House of the Brave: Won't be a Failure
by islandgirl394
Summary: Molly is determined to excel no matter the cost, and if she can't succeed on her own terms then she'll just have to redefine success. Join Molly for her seven years at Hogwarts as she experiences pain, laughter, and ultimately makes a decision nobody would have expected.
1. September Year 1

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 **Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters and places from the Harry Potter world, which is trademarked by JK Rowling. However, all plots are my own and are in no way endorsed by JK Rowling or anyone affiliated with the Harry Potter universe.**

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 _Year 1: Outstanding_

Chapter 1: September 2014

"Mom, would you _please_ stop trying to fix my hair?" Molly pleaded as she and her family said goodbye on platform nine and three quarters. It was September first, and after years of waiting, Molly was finally going to be starting school.

"I just want you to look nice for you first day," Audrey insisted, pulling Molly's hair forward to frame her face.

"I don't want to look nice," Molly grumbled. "I want to look serious. I want people to see me and know that I'm going to be the most studious student in first year."

"That's my girl!" Percy, Molly's father, said proudly. "And be sure not to let your housemates convince you to take nights off for fun, mind you. You don't get to be top of your class playing exploding snap by the fireplace."

"Oh trust me, I'm nothing like Victoire or Dominique," Molly said, thinking of her lackluster cousins. Victoire for example, had just completed her third year and had confided in her that she had almost failed Charms last year. Actually, she'd confided in Dominique, but Molly had overheard them.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Can we go now?" the nine-year-old pleaded. "I'm bored."

"Don't you want to say goodbye to your sister first?" Audrey asked.

"No," Lucy responded. "It's not like she won't be back. I'll see her at Christmas."

"Aren't you going to miss Molly?" Audrey wondered.

"Am I going to miss having someone bossing me around all the time?" Lucy responded with a question. "You tell me."

Audrey sighed. "Alright, well Molly, you have everything you need. I've spoken with your Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur and they've asked Dominique to let you sit with her on the train, so you won't be alone."

"Right…" Molly nodded. No matter what deals her family had made, she was certainly not going to sit with Dominique all day. Putting up with her cousins at family events was one thing, but she didn't think she could take a whole day of it. Not to mention, Dominique's friends would all be there, and they would probably be just as bad or worse than Dominique was. "Well I'm going to get on the train now."

"We'll miss you," Audrey said, reaching down to give her daughter a hug.

Molly waited the appropriate amount of time before pulling back. Lucy made no move to hug her and Molly made no move in return. She held her hand out to her father and shook his hand and then turned around and wheeled her trunk over to the train and dragged it up the stairs.

She didn't bother looking back as she began to walk down the corridor to find a compartment. There was no need to be sentimental. Lucy was right – she would be seeing her family in less than four months. If she couldn't make it that long, there was something wrong with her.

She ended up deciding to take an empty compartment. If she chose to sit with other first years, she would be forced to participate in conversations about what house she thought she'd get into, and what the Professors would be like. Molly didn't need to speculate about her house; she knew she would be in Gryffindor, because everyone in her family went into Gryffindor. She didn't care to speculate about her teachers, because she would meet them tomorrow anyway and anything she could learn from a first year would just be hearsay anyhow. The day would be much more productive if she sat by herself and re-read her transfiguration textbook, which she'd only read once so far. She could do with a second reading before starting classes.

It didn't take long to find an empty compartment. Once she did, Molly produced her transfiguration textbook and levitated her trunk up onto the luggage rack. She knew the rules were that you weren't supposed to use magic outside of school, but she'd read the bylaw where the rule was officially stated in one of her mother's old law books, and the rule only applied to children who had already begun their magical education. Since Molly's education didn't start until the next day, she'd chosen to use her summer of freedom to learn as many spells as she could. It couldn't hurt to be prepared.

As the train started moving, Molly leaned back and got comfortable, even daring to kick off her shoes and curl her feet up next to her on the bench. There was no sign prohibiting it after all. She opened her transfiguration textbook and started reading, making sure to pay close attention to anything she may have missed or forgotten since the first reading.

After about half and hour, there was a knock at the door and Molly looked up, hoping it wasn't one of her older cousins checking up on her. It wasn't. The girl was unfamiliar, and Molly was curious what she was doing here.

"Can I help you?" Molly asked.

"I'm sitting in the next compartment with some of the other first years," the girl explained. "And they're really loud. I was just trying to read my charms textbook, but I can't concentrate with all the yelling, and I saw that you were alone in here, so I was just wondering if I could join you to read in peace?"

Molly considered her options. She could refuse to help the girl and return to her planned afternoon of peace and solitude. The girl would have to return to the loud compartment and suffer through a terrible afternoon of excited eleven-year-olds and would probably get no reading done. Or Molly could let the girl sit with her, sacrifice her solitude, and maybe give this girl a chance to get some reading done. As much as Molly hated the prospect of sharing her afternoon with a stranger, she knew if she'd gotten stuck in a noisy compartment, she'd appreciate someone letting her join them in a more tranquil location.

"Sure," Molly agreed. "I guess we can read together."

"Thanks," the girl said with a smile, entering the compartment and closing the door behind her. She held the first year charms textbook in one hand and held the other one out for Molly to shake. "My name's Debbie Alderton by the way," she said.

Molly had to admit, she was impressed. Most eleven-year-olds weren't professional enough to give handshakes, and Debbie had been the one to volunteer her hand. Molly suspected that Debbie might be someone she might be interested in starting an acquaintanceship with, but she didn't want to get ahead of herself just yet.

"Molly Weasley," Molly returned, taking her hand firmly and shaking it an appropriate number of times.

"You're reading transfiguration," Debbie observed. "I've already read that one."

"So have I," Molly boasted. "I'm just doing a second pass to make sure I didn't miss anything the first time."

"That's smart," Debbie nodded. "I wanted to do that, but my parents only brought me to Diagon Alley two days ago to get my books. I wanted to go sooner, but they kept putting it off, so I'm a little behind. I hope to finish charms today, and then I'll have at least read all our textbooks through once."

"That's too bad," Molly returned. "Thankfully my father recognized that I would need some time with my textbooks before hand to prepare properly, so we bought them as soon as the list came out. Also, I've done lots of reading prior to receiving my letter in anticipation of starting school."

"So have I," Debbie added. "It's too bad they can't send out the book list a year in advance for those of us that would like to come prepared. Even though I did learn a lot prior to this summer, knowing that I would be starting school, I feel that my time would have been more usefully spent had I been reading the assigned texts rather than miscellaneous ones from the Diagon Alley library."

"I agree," Molly said. "You should speak to the Headmaster about that."

"I think I will," Debbie said, kicking off her shoes like Molly and getting comfortable. "Shall we read now?" she asked.

"Of course," Molly agreed, finding her place in her textbook and refocusing her attention. Meanwhile across from her, Debbie opened her charms book and quietly began to read as well.

MmMmMmMmMmM

"Candy from the trolley?" It had only been a couple hours before the trolley lady interrupted the girls to offer food.

"No thank you," Molly said politely. "I ate before getting on the train, and I hear the feast is scrumptious. I wouldn't want to spoil my dinner with cheap sweets."

"We also have a selection of healthy foods," the trolley lady offered.

"I'll take a bottle of water if you have," Debbie spoke up, pulling some change from her pocket. "I wouldn't want to get dehydrated."

"That's a good idea," Molly agreed. "I'll have a bottle of water as well."

The trolley lady handed over the waters and took the money, dropping it into her cash box before moving on to the next compartment.

"Have you gotten far?" Molly asked, figuring that they could both do with a short reading break to drink some water and recharge.

"Four chapters," Debbie said. "Charms is very interesting."

"I agree," Molly said. "I've already tried a few of the spells, and it's fascinating how the slightest wrong wand movement or intonation can be the difference between success and failure."

"Isn't it?" Debbie agreed. "I think potions might be the class I'm most looking forward to. It has to be so precise. And I think it'll be a really useful way of identifying which students have the most promise."

"I'm quite looking forward to History of Magic, actually," Molly confessed. "I know it's maybe not the most practical class, but I just think learning about our past is fascinating. I've heard the teacher is a bit of a bore, but I think that's just because most students are weak and not willing to learn if they can avoid it."

"Transfiguration should be quite interesting as well," Debbie added. "All the theory behind it is so fascinating. I think it's been the most riveting of the assigned textbooks that I've read so far."

"I have been quite enjoying it," Molly said, holding up the book in question. "In fact, I'm finding it even more interesting the second time around, now that I know what I'm reading. I think I'll get back to it now."

"Good idea," Debbie nodded. "I should probably keep reading charms if I want to finish it before we reach Hogsmeade.

By mutual agreement, the two girls put down their waters and returned to their previous positions, curled up on opposite benches with their books open in front of them. As she refocused her attention on transfiguration theory, Molly decided that her previous thought that Debbie would be someone she might be interested in knowing was correct. She was nice, smart, and clearly took school as seriously as Molly. She could only hope that Debbie wouldn't jeopardize her chance to be top student in their year.

MmMmMmMmMmM

As the train pulled into Hogsmeade station, Molly levitated her trunk down off the luggage rack and shoved her book back inside it while Debbie went next door to put her book away. They'd been instructed to leave their trunks on the train, so they did so and together stepped down onto the platform.

The first years were gathering over by a large man holding a lantern, so Molly and Debbie headed over to join them, making sure to push towards the front. After all, the best students were always at the front. Eventually, they made their way to the boats and then up to the castle, where they had to wait outside the Great Hall until everyone was ready for them.

Molly already knew about the sorting ceremony of course. Her father had never talked about it, obviously, since it was such a trivial topic. Her cousins however, had briefed her on it in full, so Molly was expecting it when the old hat on the stool opened its brim and began to sing about the various houses and school spirit and the like.

The first student to be called up to be sorted went immediately to Slytherin. As the new Slytherin descended to join her table, Molly rolled her eyes at the enthusiasm her housemates were showing. Was it really such an achievement to get sorted? Everyone would be sorted eventually after all.

The next student to be called was Debbie. As she went up to join Professor Longbottom on the raised section of the floor, Molly was surprised to find herself hoping that Debbie would be sorted into Gryffindor, where she knew she would end up. When the sorting hat declared Debbie a Ravenclaw, Molly was disappointed but unsurprised.

Flora Bailey was called next and was made Gryffindor's first new addition. Molly cringed inwardly, realizing that the girl, who had a flower attached to her headband and was practically skipping to the Gryffindor table, was going to be one of her roommates. Molly vaguely wondered whether she should try to convince the sorting hat to put her in Ravenclaw instead, but realized that going somewhere besides Gryffindor would be a bigger disgrace to her father than failing her classes. Gryffindor was the family legacy, much more important than trivial things like who Molly's roommates might be.

The next student went to Slytherin, followed by another Ravenclaw. Austin Bell was the first boy to go to Gryffindor, followed soon after by Scott Carter, both of whom looked like people Molly would never be socializing with.

Caroline Fletwock was the first student to go to Hufflepuff, which began a whole slew of students going to Hufflepuff – even five in a row at one point. Of all the students to go to Gryffindor, Sarah Radford seemed like the most reasonable one. Of course, Molly knew that she shouldn't make judgements like that just by looking at a person, but at least Sarah didn't have flowers in her hair or skip to the table after being sorted.

Finally, Professor Longbottom reached the final name on the list – Molly Weasley. Molly climbed the stairs to the stool and sat down, allowing her Professor to drop the sorting hat onto her head. As he did so, Molly wondered whether there was a self-cleaning spell on the hat, or whether she'd better wash her hair as soon as she got to her dorm.

"What a mind on this one!" the hat said into Molly's ear. "Such potential for so many of the houses. Not Hufflepuff of course, but any of the other three would be an excellent fit."

 _Hurry it up already_ , Molly thought to the hat.

"Well I know where you think you should be," the hat muttered. "But is that where you really belong?"

 _Look, you know where you're going to put me, so stop playing with my mind already and declare it_ , Molly rolled her eyes.

"If you insist," the hat acquiesced. "I suppose you belong in… GRYFFINDOR!"

The cheers from the Gryffindor table were loud and unnecessary, Molly thought, as the hat was removed from her head and she descended to take her seat. Her cousins were waving at her and smiling, Dominique even giving her a thumbs up, and Molly avoided eye contact with them as she sat down, not wanting her classmates to define her by her relation to her cousins.

Before the feast began, there were a few announcements about some staffing changes, but Molly didn't care much about that, because she hadn't known the previous Professors anyway. Finally, the meal started, and Molly dug in, not having realized how hungry she'd been.

Conversation over dinner was scarce. Molly was stuck at the end of the table next to a boy named Richard Philbrick, who was bragging to everyone who could hear about his superior flying abilities. Had she been near Sarah Radford, she might have started up a conversation to see if she was worth pursuing as an acquaintance, but she was too far down the table.

When dinner was over, they were escorted by the fifth year prefects up seven flights of stairs to the Gryffindor common room and were given the password as well as directions to their dorms. Then they were told that they should get a good night's rest before starting classes the next day.

Molly ascended the girls' staircase, discovering that the first year dorms were the first door on the staircase. Following her dorm mates inside, she looked around at her new 'home'.

There were five beds, evenly spaced out in a circle around the room. Molly's trunk was leaning against the bed in the middle, directly ahead of her. Eager to start unpacking, Molly headed over and turned it on it's side, pulling out various belongings and arranging them on her nightstand.

"We should all get to know each other," the girl with the flower in her hair suggested when everybody seemed like they were going to continue in silence. "I'm Flora Bailey."

"Amber MacDonald," the girl to Molly's immediate left introduced herself. Flora was on Molly's other side.

"Eliza Spinnet," the girl on Amber's other side said.

"Molly Weasley," Molly said out of obligation.

"And I'm Sarah Radford," the final girl added from the corner of the room. Her bed was on the other side of Flora's.

"Well I think it's so great that we're all going to be rooming together," Flora said. "I just know we're all going to be such good friends soon, and I'm so excited to get to know you all individually."

Molly sighed. If Flora was going to be like this all the time, she was going to have to find some other place to spend her time, because she was not going to be 'getting to know' Flora. Especially not the way Flora was going to want to get to know her.

Deciding it was time to get ready for bed, Molly grabbed her bathroom things and pyjamas and headed across the landing to the first year girls' bathroom. Sarah followed her and Molly took the opportunity to introduce herself personally.

"I'm Molly Weasley," Molly said.

"I know," Sarah nodded. "You said that in the dorm."

"I just thought I'd say it again," Molly shrugged.

"Listen, I don't really have time for friends and all that," Sarah said. "I was supposed to be sorted into Ravenclaw. I don't really know what I'm doing here, but I need to focus on school and I'm going to be spending most of my time studying, so you probably won't see me around all that much."

"Yeah, me too," Molly agreed, secretly rejoicing to learn that there was at least one other person in her dorm that was focused on school. She didn't know if she could stand it if all four of her room mates were like Flora. "I'm determined to beat all my Aunt Hermione's old test scores, so that's going to take a lot of focus."

"Hermione Granger?" Sarah asked. "She's your Aunt?"

Molly nodded as she currently had a toothbrush in her mouth.

"She has top scores in almost everything," Sarah commented. "Her N.E.W.T. scores are off the charts."

"Yeah, it's going to take a lot of work to beat them," Molly agreed.

"Well good luck," Sarah said. "Because I'm determined to be top of the class, which means that you're also going to have to beat me."

"I don't think that'll be a problem," Molly frowned. Did Sarah realize how serious Molly was about this? Molly didn't think so.

MmMmMmMmMmM

The next day, Molly was very excited to be starting classes. Her first class of the day was Herbology, and when she walked into class, she noticed an empty seat next to Debbie and decided to take it.

"Good morning," Debbie greeted Molly.

"'Morning," Molly responded. "So you got sorted into Ravenclaw."

"I did," Debbie nodded. "I'm surprised you didn't."

"All my family has been in Gryffindor for generations," Molly explained. "I practically had no choice."

Debbie nodded. "Well I wish you were in Ravenclaw. My dorm mates are awful. Three of them haven't even read any of the textbooks yet. They said they were waiting to read them alongside the lectures, so that they would make more sense."

"That's ridiculous!" Molly cried. "Obviously you read them beforehand so that the lectures make sense, and then again afterward to see what you can understand better in light of the lectures."

"Naturally," Debbie agreed. "Anyway, the only other girl in my dorm with any promise is Julie. That's her over there." Debbie pointed to a girl sitting a few seats away. "I haven't gotten a chance to speak with her yet, but I might consider recruiting her as a study partner."

Molly nodded. "I'm having a similar problem with my dorm mates," she said. "Did you see that first girl to go to Gryffindor with the flower in her hair?"

Debbie nodded. "Isn't she wearing another flower today?" she asked.

Molly groaned. "She is. I had to watch her attach it to her headband this morning. She made it out to be some big challenge when all she had to do was wrap the wire around the band."

"Is there anyone in your dorm with any potential at all?" Debbie wondered.

"Sarah Radford seems alright," Molly said, pointing the girl out. "She told me in no uncertain terms that she was going to be top of our class."

"Well she's wrong about that," Debbie said. "Because that's clearly going to be me."

"I think you mean me," Molly said.

"Agree to disagree," Debbie shrugged. "We'll know the truth when we get our first assignment."

"I suppose so," Molly agreed, noting that this was a reasonable test to see who was better, rather than arguing about it now.

"So I was thinking of having regular homework/study sessions after classes. I'm planning on inviting a few students, whoever seems the most promising. Would you be interested in joining?" Debbie asked.

Molly considered. On the one hand, studying in a group could be much less effective, especially if the members of the group are at different academic levels. Molly would probably get more work done on her own, where she could go her own pace. On the other hand, her mother had told her she needed to make friends and not isolate herself, and Molly could see some validity to that suggestion.

"I'll check it out," Molly decided. "See if it's a good fit for me. Who else are you inviting?"

"I thought I'd see how the day goes," Debbie said. "But probably Julie, and maybe Sarah if you think she'd be a good addition too. Hufflepuffs are out, obviously – they're not suited to serious studying. I haven't gotten to know anyone from Slytherin yet, but if any of them distinguish themselves I might consider it. And naturally no boys, because that would just be distracting. Of course this will all be on a conditional basis. I'll have to see how the group functions and possibly make some changes if I feel some people aren't suited to it."

"Of course," Molly agreed. She did like Debbie's approach, she had to admit. Molly suspected that she would probably fit in very well in this study group.

"How about we say… right after class in the library?" Debbie suggested.

"Sounds good," Molly agreed.

MmMmMmMmMmM

In the end, the group consisted of five people: Debbie, Molly, Julie Belcher, Sarah Radford, and Gillian Roper from Slytherin. Things went alright at the beginning, but it soon became glaringly obvious that Gillian Roper was not cut out for their study group. Debbie confided in Molly later that she would not be inviting Gillian back, and Molly was glad for this.

The next time the four girls met, things went much better. Mostly they read and did their homework together, but Molly found it nice to be in a community of people who took school as seriously as she did. At home, though her parents were supportive of her academic ambitions, they weren't exactly studying with her. Lucy was no help as she was only interested in playing pretend and making up stories. And her cousins were either too young to be any use, or else completely uninterested in school altogether. So it was nice to be with likeminded people for once. Molly suspected that she was going to enjoy her time at Hogwarts very much.


	2. October Year 1

_Year 1: Outstanding_

Chapter 2: October 2014

As September became October, Molly was finding that she was enjoying Hogwarts very much. There had never been any doubt in her mind whether she would enjoy her classes; that was a given. But Molly had discovered to her surprise that she also enjoyed the company. Debbie, Sarah, and Julie were three really great people – exceptionally bright, studious, and dedicated to working hard. Even in the few moments when the girls would take a minute off of studying for a breather, Molly enjoyed their company and brief conversations. It wasn't like with her cousins, where she had to force the conversation. With her new study group, conversation sprung up naturally, and when it didn't, they all agreed that they should be studying anyway.

The biggest problem the four girls were facing was that they couldn't find an ideal study space. The obvious choice had been the library, but the library was a communal space, filled with other students who didn't care about school. Though the library rules indicated that certain areas were designated for talking, some for whispering, and some for silence, the reality was that Madam Maxwell couldn't enforce the volume rules everywhere at once. The result was that Molly and her study group couldn't properly focus, even in the silent study area.

All the other typical places for students to study were simply unacceptable. Barring the fact that the girls weren't from the same house and couldn't have studied together in a common room, the common rooms were zones of relaxation where students were constantly laughing loudly and yelling and throwing things. The Gryffindor common room was of course, a disaster, and Molly had been informed that though the Ravenclaw house was renowned for studiousness, the atmosphere was barely any different. Debbie and Julie refused to speak to the rumours of Ravenclaw Tower having its own library, but assured their Gryffindor companions that even if the rumour was true, it didn't mean it was treated any different from the rest of their common space.

As for the Great Hall, where sometimes people chose to study during times when meals weren't being served, it was the worst of all possible locations. From the beginning of breakfast to the removal of dinner at eight o'clock, there was always some form of food on the tables, making the Great Hall a desirable place for those students who liked to snack while studying. After spending five minutes trying to study at the end of the Ravenclaw table in mid-September, the girls had collectively agreed that they would never attempt this again. Not only were other students in the room yelling and being loud, some were even running up and down the room and even around tables.

"This is getting ridiculous," Julie declared one night while the four girls were attempting to complete some homework for transfiguration. They were in the library, because despite it's shortfalls, it was still their best option. "I can't concentrate with those buffoons over there guffawing every five minutes."

Julie gestured to a group of third years who were sitting nearby and in Molly's opinion as well, being quite obnoxious.

"We need our own place," Debbie agreed. "Someplace that no one else is using."

"Well the castle's full of empty rooms," Sarah shrugged. "But they're dirty and dusty and most of them have broken furniture in them. Not really conducive to effective study."

"We could fix one up," Molly suggested, bouncing off Sarah's comment. "I know it would take time away from studying, but we're all pretty far ahead of the rest of our classmates and if we worked together, we could have a room cleaned up in no time."

"That's a good idea," Debbie agreed. "And we would probably end up saving time in the long run by taking the time to do that, because we'll get so much more work done in a room without all the distractions of the library."

"Do you think we'd be allowed?" Julie wondered.

"I don't see why not," Sarah shrugged. "It's not like they're using any of the classrooms for anything now. Really it's just a lot of space being wasted."

Having agreed on their course of action, the girls' next step was to choose a location. Obviously they weren't going to choose a room at random – they had to scout out all possible locations and choose the one that was most optimal and fit all their criteria. So the following day, after their final class, the girls banded together and began checking out potential spaces (they thought about splitting up, but decided they would make a more informed decision if all four of them had the full information rather than each coming in with a quarter of the information).

They started on the seventh floor, because both Gryffindor Tower and Ravenclaw Tower were on the seventh floor, and it would be convenient to be in proximity to their houses. Unfortunately, they realized that proximity to their houses meant that the library would be far away if they needed to consult or take out books. They had a similar problem when they considered the second floor, where the library was located, because being far from their houses meant a long walk if they needed to retrieve something from their dorms.

As a compromise, the girls decided that the fifth floor would be the location of their new study space. The fourth floor was an option until they realized the hospital wing was on the fourth floor and that they would be constantly passing sick people on the way to study. Once they chose the fifth floor, it was easy to narrow their classroom options down to a select few. The classroom couldn't be too big or too small. It also couldn't be too warm or too cold. Ideally it would already have a few good pieces of furniture, but they could always move furniture around between classrooms if necessary. Julie also declared that she wanted the room to have a window for fresh air, which the other girls all agreed was a good idea.

In the end, they settled on a room at the very end of a hallway that almost nobody ever went down since there was nothing nearby. The room was at a corner of the castle, which meant that the room had two windows. It wasn't big like most of the classrooms, but rather small – the girls suspected that the room couldn't have fit a class bigger than ten people inside. As a bonus, the girls realized that they weren't too far from a bathroom, which was something they hadn't originally considered but were extremely glad for.

Inside the room were some broken tables and chairs, which the girls immediately dragged across the hall into a larger abandoned classroom. Apart from that, the only furniture left in their room was an empty bookshelf, which was still in pretty good shape and the girls elected to keep to store books and things on.

Before bringing in some new furniture, the Sarah suggested that they thoroughly clean the room, which Molly agreed was smart, because the room was full of dust and cobwebs. Debbie found a bucket, which the girls proceeded to fill with soap and water in the bathroom, and levitate down the hall to their room before getting to work scrubbing the room down. It took a while, and the girls got pretty dirty doing it, but when they were done, they were quite happy with the result. The room practically shone, and for the first time, Molly could envision herself spending her days studying here.

Next, they knew they were going to need some desks and chairs. The desks were easy enough to locate, clean, and levitate into the room. They decided to bring in eight desks – four to arrange in a square in the middle of the room for group study, and four to place in the four corners of the room for individual study. They moved the bookshelf out of the corner and placed in the center of the wall that didn't contain a window or a door.

Finally, they were only missing one thing – chairs. They had known from the beginning that chairs would be the hardest part, because most of the chairs they'd found in the abandoned rooms were broken. Even if they fixed the chairs, most of them were plain wooden chairs that the girls knew would be uncomfortable to sit in for long periods of time. At this point though, the girls were getting hungry, so they took a break and headed down to the Great Hall to eat.

"I feel really good about the study space," Sarah said, making small talk over dinner.

"So do I," Molly agreed. "I think once we have it set up, we're going to be really happy with it and be able to get lots more accomplished than we ever have in the library."

"It'll be nice to have somewhere to spend time without being around so many people also," Sarah said.

"Oh absolutely," Molly agreed. "I don't understand how so many people can coexist in such close quarters as the common room without killing each other."

"It's baffling," Sarah agreed.

When dinner was over, Molly and Sarah met up with the Ravenclaw girls with the intention of searching abandoned classrooms for comfortable chairs when they were intercepted by Professor Longbottom.

"Good evening girls," he greeted them.

"Good evening Professor Longbottom," Julie returned, extending her hand.

"What can we help you with this evening?" Molly wondered.

"Well I've been hearing rumours about some renovations that have been taking place in one of the fifth floor classrooms," Professor Longbottom began.

Molly felt her heart drop. "Is there a problem?" she asked, worried that they would have to give up their study space.

"How about we talk about this in my office?" Professor Longbottom suggested.

Reluctantly, but not daring to contradict a teacher, the girls followed Professor Longbottom to his office by the greenhouses, where they pulled some chairs up to sit in front of their Herbology's teacher's desk.

"Now normally I would ask Professor Flitwick to be here as well, as Ravenclaw's Head of House," Professor Longbottom prefaced the discussion, "however, I hope that this issue can be easily resolved without the involvement of too many people. Also, Professor Flitwick is getting a little hard of hearing and couldn't understand a word I said to him."

Professor Longbottom paused, probably expecting the girls to chuckle or something at his comment about Professor Flitwick's age, but Molly for one didn't find the comment amusing in the slightest. She just wanted her Professor to get on with whatever he had to say.

"Are we in trouble?" Debbie inquired when it seemed that Professor Longbottom wasn't going to speak first.

"No, of course not girls," Professor Longbottom assured them. "I was just hoping you could clear up some of my confusion about what's been going on up on the fifth floor."

"It's simple really," Julie said, taking charge. "We needed a place to study."

"Hogwarts does provide students with many different options for spending their free time," Professor Longbottom noted. "For instance, the library is an excellent place to get homework done."

"With all due respect, Professor Longbottom," Julie said. "I'm not sure all the students here treat the library with the same level of courtesy as we do."

"Would you care to elaborate?" Professor Longbottom asked.

"We have found the library to be more a place of socialization than of study," Debbie interjected. "I suspect that this is partly due to the fact that it's the only appropriate space for students from different houses to work together on school assignments."

Professor Longbottom nodded, listening attentively.

"For example," Debbie continued. "If Molly and I were partnered together to do a Herbology assignment, the only place we would be able to complete it would be the library. We can't do it in the common room, because we're in different houses and don't have the same common room. The Great Hall is hardly the place to get serious work done, which leaves the library as our only option. Now of course, Molly and I would actually spend our time in the library completing the assignment. However, from our observations, most students require lengthy breaks while they work to talk and fool around. If everyone was working in their common rooms, this wouldn't be such a problem, but so many people have to work in the library and for some of us it can be very distracting."

"You raise some excellent points," Professor Longbottom noted. "I'd never really thought much on the subject before, but there really aren't many common areas for students of different houses to socialize in, besides the Great Hall or the library. And I certainly understand your point about the library. Perhaps I should speak with Madam Maxwell about increasing vigilance during peak study times?"

"Actually, Madam Maxwell is doing an excellent job," Molly jumped in. "We really couldn't ask more of her. The problem isn't that the rules aren't being enforced, it's that the rules can't be enforced to the degree that we would need them to be."

"That's where the room on the fifth floor comes in," Sarah added. "We really didn't think it would be a problem, since the room wasn't being used anyway. Just because the library doesn't provide us with the environment we need doesn't mean there's anything wrong with it. So many students use the library for their study and enjoy it just the way it is. We wouldn't want to try to change the library, especially not just for the four of us. So we made our own space."

"I understand where you girls are coming from, I really do," Professor Longbottom nodded. "But I hope you can understand my predicament here. I can't just let students claim classrooms left right and center. Imagine if every student wanted a classroom for his or her own personal use. We'd be out of classrooms before we got halfway through handing them out."

"So we have to give it up?" Debbie asked, trying and failing to mask her dismay.

"Well I hesitate to make you give it up completely," Professor Longbottom said. "Especially if what you say is true and you truly need the space for study purposes."

"We do," Julie nodded her head vigorously.

"Alright, well then I will speak to the Headmaster about this, and see if we can come up with a solution that benefits everybody," Professor Longbottom said.

"What should we do in the meantime?" Sarah wondered. "Are you going to speak with him soon?"

"I could probably speak to him now if you girls wanted to wait for me," Professor Longbottom said.

"May we come with you?" Molly asked, not wanting to have to wait in anticipation. This way, they would know right away.

"Well it is highly irregular to bring students with me for these kinds of meetings, but I suppose it couldn't hurt," Professor Longbottom agreed.

Eager to get the matter resolved one way or another, the girls followed their Herbology Professor all the way across the school to the Headmaster's office and waited as he informed the stone gargoyle guarding the entrance that he needed to speak with Headmaster Slinkhard.

It only took a few moments before the staircase began to open up and the five of them climbed on and ascended to the Headmaster's office.

"This is highly irregular," Headmaster Slinkhard greeted them when they all entered the office.

"I apologize," Professor Longbottom said, gesturing for the girls to sit down. "The girls insisted on coming with me to hear what you had to say."

"I assume this is regarding the activities that have been taking place on the fifth floor this afternoon," the Headmaster said. "Have you resolved the situation like I requested?"

"Actually, the situation is a little more complicated than we had anticipated," Professor Longbottom said, launching into a full-on explanation of everything Molly and the other girls had told him. Professor Slinkhard listened patiently to everything Professor Longbottom said, and though the girls tried to discern what he was thinking, his face remained impassive the entire time.

When Professor Longbottom finished, Headmaster Slinkhard pressed his fingers together and closed his eyes, a ponderous look on his face. "Well this is simply… unacceptable," he said, opening his eyes.

Molly's spirits sank. After hearing everything that Professor Longbottom had said, how could he not sympathize with them? Perhaps he needed to hear their side of things. He clearly didn't understand how important it was for them to have a space to study if they wanted to stay at the top of their classes.

"In all these years," Professor Slinkhard continued, "how is it that Hogwarts has never created spaces for these sorts of situations?"

Molly's head snapped up in surprise.

"I surely don't know," Professor Longbottom confessed. "I've never had the authority to create such spaces."

"Well I would like to grant you such authority," Headmaster Slinkhard declared. "We should have both places where members of all the houses can socialize and where they can study seriously and I see no reason why these girls shouldn't keep their study room on the fifth floor until appropriate spaces are made available to them."

"Really?" Debbie asked excitedly. "Thank you so much Headmaster."

Headmaster Slinkhard nodded. "You girls study hard," he said. "You may go."

Each of the girls proceeded to thank their Headmaster profusely for letting them keep their space and then proceeded to exit the office as the Headmaster and Professor Longbottom discussed the details of the plan to increase usage of the free space in the castle for inter-house community spaces and the like.

"Well that went well," Sarah commented as they all made their way back to their study room. "For a minute there I was pretty nervous they were going to make us put everything back the way we found it."

"Headmaster Slinkhard is a reasonable man," Debbie noted. "I know he's new here, but I think he's going to make a great Headmaster."

"Why, because he agreed with us?" Julie joked.

"Because he saw the value in what we were saying and decided to make a change that will be beneficial to the entire student population," Debbie clarified. "It's nice to know he isn't just going to sit back and do nothing with his power."

"Very true," Molly agreed.

They returned to their room only to realize that they'd forgotten that they had yet to locate chairs. Since they were exhausted from the day's activities, they elected to turn in for the night and to find chairs the following day. Bidding one another goodnight at the juncture on the seventh floor, the two Gryffindors headed off to Gryffindor Tower and the Ravenclaws started to make their way to Ravenclaw Tower.

"So I hear you got called into the Headmaster's office," Flora said when Sarah and Molly arrived in the dorm ready to fall into bed.

"You heard right," Molly confirmed, not caring to get sucked into the conversation Flora was trying to start.

"What'd you do?" Flora asked, intrigued.

"Nothing special," Molly shrugged. "Listen, I'm tired so I'm going to turn in."

As Molly gathered her bathroom supplies so that she could prepare to go to sleep, she heard Flora whispering to Amber and Eliza.

"It's like they don't even want to try to be friends with us," Flora was saying.

Molly rolled her eyes. She didn't have time to be friends with Flora. She didn't have time to be friends with anyone. Not if she was going to find a way to beat Sarah, Julie, _and_ Debbie in all their classes. Molly hadn't realized prior to arriving at Hogwarts how competitive it was going to be, and she needed to devote all her time to homework and study if she was going to do her father proud. Friendship would only sidetrack her. The only reason she even tolerated Sarah and the other girls was that by studying with them, she would both learn from them and become a better student, and also she would know exactly how they were doing in their classes, and how much better she would have to do in her classes to beat them.

"Goodnight Sarah," Molly said as she closed her curtains around her bed to block out the sight of her roommates gossiping on Flora's bed. Soon she would have to learn the silencing spell so that she could fall asleep peacefully without hearing them either.

"Goodnight Molly," Sarah returned, closing her curtains in turn.

As Molly drifted off to sleep that night, she couldn't help but think once again how nice it was to have a friendly face in the first year Gryffindor girls' dormitory and how much more interesting her time at Hogwarts was going to be spending it with Sarah, Debbie, and Julie.


	3. November Year 1

_Year 1: Outstanding_

Chapter 3: November 2014

"Did anyone catch the dates for Emeric the Evil?" Julie asked one afternoon as Molly and her friends studied in their fifth floor study space.

"1042 to 1046," Sarah replied immediately.

"That's just his reign of terror though," Molly corrected. "He lived from 1014 until 1046."

"So he was only thirty-two when he died?" Debbie questioned. "That doesn't seem right. I though he lived to be older than that."

"You might be getting him mixed up with Egbert the Egregious," Molly pointed out. "He lived until he was forty-one."

"That long?" Julie commented. "Impressive."

"But he was a lot older than Emeric the Evil," Sarah clarified. "When he defeated him in 1046, he was already thirty-nine."

"So his reign only lasted two years?" Debbie asked. "No wonder we didn't talk about him much."

"Who defeated Egbert the Egregious?" Molly frowned. "It seems to be missing from my notes."

"Nobody knows," Sarah replied. "Professor Binns said he just turned up dead one day with his throat slit and his wand was missing. How did you miss that?"

"I guess I was still writing down the part about how the death of his daughter drove him to madness," Molly replied.

"Wasn't that Emeric?" Julie pointed out.

"Shoot, you're right," Molly frowned, looking at her notes like they were written by an alien – or maybe a Hufflepuff. "I'm going to have to re-write this whole thing," she sighed. "I've got everything mixed up."

The girls descended into silence as Molly produced a fresh piece of parchment and got to work. While she was scribbling out a fresh copy her notes, with occasional input from her friends, the other girls revised the material from that day's lecture in order to firmly cement it into their heads.

It was a common practice in their little study room. Their theory was that if they internalized the material from the beginning, then come exam time they would have it much easier than the other students. There would be no frantic search for lost notes or panicked realizations that they'd forgotten to study one subject or another.

"Achoo!" Debbie sneezed loudly, spraying her notes with spittle. "Aw, gross!" she cried, wrinkling her nose. "I think I'm going to recopy my notes too," she declared. "Because I don't want – ACHOO!" she sneezed again.

"Debbie, are you alright?" Molly inquired. Her friend's sneeze had caused her to rock back violently in her chair and she was pinching her nose to stop a third sneeze.

"I'm fine," Debbie assured her. "I'm sure it's nothing."

"Are you sure?" Julie checked. "I'm sure if you went to see Madam Eldridge she'd give you a potion to stave off the sneezing.

"No really, I'm fine," Debbie replied. "I don't need a potion. And I don't have time to go all the way to the hospital wing. I've got notes to recopy."

Julie shrugged, not particularly minding either way. "Alright, it's your call," she said, resuming her internalization of the day's History of Magic lesson.

"Do we know Emeric's daughter's name?" Sarah wondered aloud.

"Amelia," Molly replied.

"No, that's Egbert's daughter," Julie corrected. "Emeric's daughter was Alissa."

"Ugh," Molly grumbled, angrily crossing a line out in her new notes. "What is wrong with me?"

MmMmMmMmMmM

As it turned out, Debbie's sneezing was indicative of something more. The following morning, she'd been feverish and unwilling to get out of bed. Julie had dragged her to the hospital wing and left her in Madam Eldridge's care, assuring her that there was no point going to classes if she was only going to sleep through them. Madam Eldridge could get her back on her feet and back in class sooner than she could on her own. Debbie reluctantly agreed.

"I'm just glad it didn't happen to me," Julie said that morning in the charms classroom as they waited for Professor Flitwick to arrive. "I mean, she's probably going to miss a whole day of classes. She's going to be so behind."

"We'll help her catch up though," Molly said. "She'll be back on track in no time."

"I'm not doing any such thing," Julie frowned. "I don't have time to help sick people catch up. I have my own studying to worry about. She'll just have to catch up on her own."

"It's not like she got sick on purpose!" Molly cried. "What if it had happened to you? Wouldn't you want her to help you?"

"Well it didn't happen to me," Julie pointed out. "It happened to Debbie."

Molly looked to Sarah for support, but to her dismay, Sarah agreed with Julie.

"We don't have time to be pulling Debbie's slack," Sarah said apologetically. "I don't like it, but Julie's right. If we take the time to catch Debbie up, we're going to lose out on our own study time, and we can't afford that. I certainly can't. Not if I'm going to be top of the class."

"You mean second," Julie smirked in Sarah's direction.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "You wish," she said.

Molly was silent. Sarah and Julie made an excellent point. Catching Debbie up would take at least the entire afternoon once classes were over. Which would mean that Molly would lose out on an entire afternoon of revising time. She'd be a whole day behind her friends. That simply wouldn't do. Her father would be very disappointed if she only managed to be _third_ in her class. Second, Molly could tolerate, but third was unacceptable. But third was what she'd be if she let Sarah and Julie get ahead of her while she helped pull Debbie out of the bog.

"You guys are right, of course," Molly allowed, inclining her head just as Professor Flitwick arrived to start class. "I don't know what I was thinking. Debbie will just have to figure this out for herself."

MmMmMmMmMmM

When their final class was over, Molly, Sarah, and Julie made their way to their study room to get their newest assignments done and to revise the day's material. The only homework from charms and defence was to practice, which Molly decided she would do later – practical homework wasn't as fun as written assignments. For herbology, she had to read a chapter of her textbook and for potions, she had to write a short essay indicating where to find the various ingredients of the wiggenweld potion in nature (the wiggenweld potion had been chosen, Molly presumed, because it had so many varied ingredients and not because they would be brewing the complicated potion anytime soon).

She elected to start with herbology, though she'd already read the entire textbook. She liked to re-read the textbook as it was caught, to remain up-to-date on the information they were covering in class. Not to mention, the herbology chapter would be a useful resource for her potions essay later.

"What do you think Debbie's doing right now?" Molly wondered, about halfway through the chapter.

"Probably sleeping," Julie muttered, looking up from her herbology book, which she was also reading from. "Why do you care?"

"I don't know," Molly shrugged, going back to her reading.

She was finding it hard to concentrate. She knew she needed to focus, but she kept thinking of Debbie, trapped in a hospital bed, begging Madam Eldridge to let her leave and get her assignments and being refused.

It wasn't any of Molly's business though. Molly had to focus on herself and her own grades. She didn't have the time or the energy available to devote to Debbie. She didn't even have the time to think about Debbie right now – every minute that she wasn't reading her herbology textbook was a minute wasted.

And yet… Molly couldn't help but wonder. What was more important, really? Was it more important to be top of the class, or was it more important to be a good friend? Dedication to her studies, or compassion? Wasn't she being selfish, thinking only about herself and her grades? Wouldn't her family want her to help her friend in need? Even Aunt Hermione had helped Uncle Harry and Uncle Ron with their studies after all, and she'd still managed to be top of her class. Maybe Molly didn't have to sacrifice one for the other.

"I'm going to do both," she decided.

"What's that?" Sarah asked absentmindedly, looking up from her charms notes.

"Nothing," Molly shook her head, not having time to explain herself. "I've got to go."

She started packing her things away and Sarah and Julie gave her confused looks.

"Go where?" Julie asked. "We have hours yet before supper, and a potions essay to write."

Molly shrugged. "I guess I just have something better to do," she said, grabbing her now filled bag and leaving the room before her friends could ask her any more questions.

Now out in the corridor, Molly hurried to the hospital wing, practically running in an effort to save time. If she was going to help Debbie _and_ get everything done that she needed to, she was going to have to be fast.

As she reached the hospital wing doors, she found herself crashing into another student who was on her way out.

"I'm sorry!" Molly cried apologetically, grabbing her bag, which had fallen to the ground in the collision, and pushing forward.

"Hey, wait stop!" the voice of the other girl called. "Molly?"

Molly froze and turned around to discover that the girl she'd collided with was none other than her cousin, Dominique.

"Hi Dominique," Molly said, even her speech coming out in a rush. "Sorry, but I've got to – "

"Okay, slow down," Dominique said, stepping forward and placing a hand on either of Molly's shoulders. "Take a deep breath and tell me what happened. Are you hurt? Is someone else hurt?"

Molly frowned and then understanding dawned on her. Dominique thought she was running so fast because of a medical emergency. She didn't realize that Molly was just trying to maximize her study time.

"I'm fine, Domi," Molly assured her cousin. "I'm just trying to get to my friend Debbie, to give her today's assignments because she was sick and had to miss class today."

"Okay, well slow down," Dominique told her. "She can manage a minute more without them. She made it the whole day, after all."

Molly shook her head. "No, you don't understand, this is important, there's no time to spare. Julie and Sarah are upstairs studying as we speak."

"Look Molly, nothing bad is going to happen if you aren't studying every minute of every day," Dominique said.

"Sorry if that doesn't mean much coming from you," Molly said, wrenching away from Dominique and hurrying into the hospital wing without a second glance.

It wasn't hard to locate Debbie. She was at the far end of the hospital, closest to Madam Eldridge's office and farthest from the door, and her arm was magically handcuffed to her bed.

"Molly!" she cried when she saw her friend. "Please tell me you're here to give me my assignments! I've been begging Madam Eldridge to let me go and get them myself, but she keeps insisting that if they're important, someone will bring them to me."

Molly smiled, having perfectly predicted the state her friend would be in. "Yeah, I've brought the assignments," Molly smiled, taking a seat next to Debbie's bed and getting Debbie's food table in place in front of her to act as a makeshift desk. "And I've brought my notes as well, for you to recopy for yourself."

"You're an angel," Debbie said, reaching over to give Molly a hug. Unfortunately, with her hand still trapped, she couldn't move as much as she wanted. "Darn this thing," she muttered angrily. "Madam Eldridge!"

The hospital wing matron hurried over to see what the trouble was.

"Can you _please_ take this off?" Debbie begged, gesturing to the trapped hand. "I swear, I'm not going to go anywhere. Molly brought me my assignments and I need both hands to do them."

"I suppose as long as you're not trying to escape anymore, there's no harm in removing it," Madam Eldridge allowed. "Though I'd really rather you rest than exert yourself with homework."

"I'll rest once I've completed my assignments," Debbie promised. "But until I do, I wouldn't be resting anyway, I'd just be thinking about them."

"Yes, I can see that," Madam Eldridge nodded. "Well take one more dose of your potion before you start at least."

Debbie obediently took the potion that Madam Eldridge handed her and downed in, handing it back and then shooing the woman away. Then she turned to Molly, eager to get started.

"So Charms was first," Molly said, running through what had been covered that day. "It was a practical class, so no notes. We attempted the unlocking spell for the first time and the only homework was to continue practicing."

"I'll have to find something I can practice unlocking," Debbie frowned, looking around at the objects in the near vicinity. "To bad I'm not situated near a door."

"I'll grab a lock from the charms classroom on the way back from dinner," Molly promised. "That's what we practiced on in class, and you'll be able to stay in bed that way."

"Thanks," Debbie said gratefully.

"Next was Herbology," Molly continued, pulling out her Herbology notes. "You'll want to read these carefully as you copy them out, it was an important class. And we're to read chapter four of the textbook for homework. We'll have to share mine though, because I didn't bring any of your stuff with me."

"I don't mind sharing," Debbie said. "If you don't, that is."

"Not at all," Molly shook her head. "I've almost finished re-reading it anyway, so you can have it as soon as I'm done with it, which shouldn't be a problem since you should go through the notes first anyhow."

"What was next?" Debbie urged Molly to continue. "Potions, wasn't it?"

Molly nodded. "We talked about collecting ingredients from nature," she said. "Here, I've got notes from that as well that you should recopy." She pulled her notes out of her bag and placed them on top of the Herbology notes. "And Professor Abbott-Longbottom assigned a short essay on where and how to collect ingredients for the wiggenweld potion."

"The wiggenweld potion?" Debbie frowned. "But that isn't in the textbook."

Molly nodded in agreement. "Don't worry, we're not going to brew it anytime soon. It's just an example. Professor Abbott-Longbottom gave us the list of ingredients with the assignment. It's a good example because it requires lots of different ingredients." She produced the assignment instructions and put those on top of the potions notes.

"Oh," Debbie nodded, understanding. "Alright. And Defence?"

"Another practical class," Molly rolled her eyes. "Such a waste of time. We practiced the knockback jinx on pillows – Professor Derlid didn't want anyone getting hurt if they went too far off course. It was like a giant pillowfight or something."

Debbie rolled her eyes, in agreement that it sounded like a waste of time. "Let me guess… the homework was to continue practicing?"

Molly nodded. "Yep," she said. "And only on soft objects."

"Luckily I have a plethora of pillows at my disposal," Debbie laughed.

"Luckily," Molly agreed.

By mutual agreement, the girls then got started on their work. Molly took up the Herbology textbook to finish the chapter while Debbie got started recopying Molly's Herbology and Potions notes on some spare parchment that Molly provided her with.

Molly finished reading pretty quickly, and moved onto the potions essay while Debbie completed her recopying of the notes and all too soon, Molly realized it was time for her to go to supper.

"I'll come back as soon as I'm done eating," Molly promised. "And I'll bring you that lock from Flitwick's classroom."

"Can you leave your Herbology book here?" Debbie requested. "I've almost finished with your notes, and I think I'll do some reading with my own dinner, since I'll have nothing better to occupy myself with."

"Sure," Molly agreed, electing to simply leave her whole bag with her friend. It would be less cumbersome this way, after all.

MmMmMmMmMmM

"So you went to the hospital wing," Julie smirked at dinner. The three girls were sitting at the Ravenclaw table tonight – they'd sat at the Gryffindor table at lunch.

"I did," Molly replied, keeping her head held high. "It was the right thing to do."

Julie shrugged. "It's your funeral," she muttered. "If you get poor marks, that is."

"I don't expect to," Molly replied. "In fact I've already finished my Herbology reading and am close to finishing my potions essay."

"Have you practiced charms or defence at all?" Sarah wondered.

Molly hesitated. "Well no," she admitted. "Not yet, but – "

"Or have you revised your notes since taking them in class?" Julie wondered.

"Well I still have time to – "

"Look, it's fine that you want to help Debbie," Julie said. "Really commendable. Just don't come crying to us when our grades are higher than yours."

"Whatever," Molly muttered, stabbing her mashed potatoes with her fork. She pushed her plate away. "I'm not hungry," she declared. "I'm going to go."

"Back to the hospital wing?" Sarah asked, making a face that was half 'are you crazy' and half 'I feel sorry for you'.

"So what if I am?" Molly demanded. "So you guys don't have to worry about me anymore. Less competition. You should be happy."

She stomped away, emotions roiling inside of her. When had things gotten so complicated, she wondered.

MmMmMmMmMmM

"Thanks for grabbing this," Debbie said, gesturing to the lock that Molly had brought her. "Now I can practice all night."

"Try to sleep some too," Molly instructed her friend. "You do want to be discharged tomorrow morning, don't you? You wouldn't want to miss another day of classes."

"Oh I feel much better," Debbie assured her. "I have no doubt Madam Eldridge will let me out."

"Well if I don't see you in class tomorrow, then I'll come by after," Molly promised.

"Thanks," Debbie smiled, as Molly packed up her things. "You're a good friend."

Molly left the hospital wing then and made her way back to the study room. Now that Debbie was set for the night, Molly needed to finish her own revising before curfew came around and she was forced back to Gryffindor Tower.

"You're back," Sarah noted when Molly opened the door and collapsed behind her desk.

"Yeah," Molly nodded. "Debbie's good for the night, so I figured I'd leave her be and get my own work done."

"How much do you have left to do?" Julie wondered.

"Not much," Molly replied. "I feel good about the knockback jinx – we practiced on some of the hospital wing pillows until Madam Eldridge got fed up of being hit in the head." Sarah and Julie both chuckled at that image. "And I'm finished with potions. I just want to revise my herbology notes once more, and then there's the unlocking spell that I have to work on."

Julie hesitated. "If you want… Well if you want to stand on the other side of the door and practice unlocking it, I can stand on this side and lock it again for you. Since we haven't learned the locking spell quite yet."

Molly immediately recognized this for what it was. Julie was extending an olive branch – trying to make up for her comments earlier.

"I'd appreciate that," Molly smiled, getting up and going to the other side of the door. "Thanks."


	4. December Year 1

_Year 1: Outstanding_

Chapter 4: December 2014

The rest of Molly's first term went exactly according to plan. Despite what her friends thought, she was able to stay on top of her classes even though she'd helped Debbie while she was sick. Debbie also had caught up quickly so that by the time the term had come to an end, none of the four could say who was beating whom in the battle for top of the class.

"Come _on_ Molly," Lucy begged. It was the Christmas holidays and Molly was home for two weeks – a choice she was very much regretting at the moment. Though she was glad to see her family and couldn't imagine missing the big Weasley family dinner on Christmas Eve, she found that she couldn't stand her sister's nagging. "Can we go and play now _please_?"

"Lucy, can't you see I'm studying?" Molly demanded, gesturing to the mountains of books piled on her too-small desk. "Go and find someone else to play with."

"There is no one else," Lucy pouted. "James and Albus and Lily went home already."

"Well then I'm sure you've had plenty of playtime today and don't need me," Molly said, getting up and shooing her sister out of her room. "Now get out of here before I find Daddy and have him make you leave me alone."

Molly shut her bedroom door behind her sister and then sat back down at her desk. If she'd only stayed at Hogwarts, she'd have peace and quiet. She could study all day long to her heart's content. She'd even have been able to study in the library, because most students would have gone home for the holidays, and precious few would be in the library anyway, so there wouldn't be any distractions. As it was though, she had chosen to come home, and so she had to deal with her annoying little sister.

Molly couldn't wait until Lucy started school the year after next. At least then she'd have her own friends to bother all the time. Or at the very least her own work to do when they were both home for the holidays. She enjoyed playing with James and Albus, with whom she was close in age, but they couldn't always be around to entertain her.

Molly shook her head. Thinking about her sister was a waste of time. She should be revising. Though she wasn't allowed to practice magic outside of Hogwarts, there was plenty she could do to make sure her two weeks off didn't cause her to forget anything. She'd designed a careful study schedule, alternating between her seven classes, to revise all the material that they'd covered since September, and then to read ahead some of the upcoming material so that she would be ready come January. At the moment, she was studying basic transfiguration theory for inanimate to inanimate transfigurations.

"Molly?" her mother called out suddenly, knocking on her door.

"What is it?" Molly called back, irritated to be pulled from her train of thought.

"Did you yell at your sister?" Audrey asked.

Molly sighed. "Maybe a little, but she was in my room and wouldn't stop bothering me."

Molly could hear an exasperated sigh from the other side of her door and she shook her head, throwing her quill onto her desk in frustration. She knew her studying for the night was going to be put on hold.

"Well I think your sister deserves an apology," Audrey said. "She's very upset."

Molly groaned and pushed her chair away from her desk, getting up and opening the door.

"Fine," she mumbled, pushing past her mother. "Let's get this over with."

MmMmMmMmMmM

"Well I am just so proud of you honey," Percy said later that night at dinner. "You're so dedicated to your studies, it's so nice to see."

"Thanks," Molly smiled, relieved that at least one parent was on her side.

"It is nice to see Molly so invested in school," Audrey agreed. "But Percy, don't you think she should be enjoying her holiday too?"

"Oh Audrey, you remember how it was when we were in school," Percy said. "We were both just as determined, you maybe even more than I was in fact."

"Yes," Audrey agreed. "But we had interests outside of our studies as well. Remember, I was in the wizard's chess club, and you in the gobstones club. And later we were both prefects."

"Well I think it's a little too soon for Molly to be named a prefect," Percy pointed out.

"That's not the point," Audrey insisted. "The point is she doesn't have a life outside of her books. A girl needs friends, activities."

"I do so have a life," Molly chimed in. "And I have friends."

"You do?" Audrey asked in surprise. "You've never mentioned them."

Molly shrugged. "Well I have them," she said. "Three of them."

"Well tell us all about them," Audrey insisted, turning all her attention on Molly. Percy rolled his eyes and Molly felt inclined to agree with her father. What was the point of talking about her friends when nobody else even knew them?

"Well…" Molly hesitated, unsure where to start. "Sarah's in Gryffindor with me. And Julie and Debbie are in Ravenclaw."

"Well isn't that nice," Audrey smiled. "It's good to have friends outside your own house sometimes."

"And they're in Ravenclaw, are they?" her father asked, nodding approvingly. "I trust they're as invested in their studies as you are?"

"Oh yes," Molly assured him with a nod. "I couldn't stand them if they weren't," she added with a small chuckle.

"So what do you do together?" Audrey wondered.

Molly shrugged. "Mostly study," she said. "And we bounce ideas off each other when we have an essay or a project."

"Well isn't that nice," Audrey said, though Molly could tell her mother wished she'd answered differently.

"They're really great," Molly assured her parents. "You'd both like them."

"Would I like them?" Lucy asked.

Molly considered it. "Probably not," she said. Nor would her friends particularly like Lucy. Not with how annoying and interruptive she was these days.

"Oh," Lucy said sadly, deflating. "Well my friends don't like you either."

"What friends?" Molly asked. "You mean our cousins? That's fine, I don't like most of them either."

"Molly!" Audrey admonished. "That wasn't a very nice thing to say."

"It was true," Molly shrugged. "Would you rather I lie?"

Audrey looked to Percy for help, but he had none to give. "Pass the peas," he requested.

MmMmMmMmMmM

Soon, Christmas had arrived, and the Brown-Weasleys were getting ready to Floo to their grandparents' house for dinner.

"Can I please just bring one book with me?" Molly pleaded after her mother had confiscated her book bag full of textbooks and notes.

"No," her mother said evenly. "You are going to spend time with your cousins, not spend the whole afternoon buried in a textbook."

"Daddy?" Molly cried, turning to her father.

Percy sighed. "You heard your mother," he said. "The books stay here."

"Ugh!" Molly cried in frustration. "This is so unfair!"

"Trust me, you'll thank me someday," Audrey said.

"I very much doubt that," Molly grumbled, grabbing some Floo Powder and stepping into their fireplace. "The Burrow!" she cried, closing her eyes and letting herself get swept away from her family. Though they'd be following in minutes, she took pleasure in knowing that it had been she that had stormed out.

"Molly!" Grandfather Weasley cried when Molly arrived. "So good to see you. Keeping those grades up?"

"Of course," Molly smiled, giving her Grandfather a hug. "Grandmother is in the kitchen, I expect?"

Grandfather Weasley nodded and Molly hurried out of the living room before her parents could arrive.

"Oh Molly, there you are!" Grandmother Weasley exclaimed when Molly found her in the kitchen. "I was beginning to wonder when you all would show up! Your cousins are all waiting upstairs and I've got potatoes to peel, so you run along now."

Molly did as she was told and ascended the stairs to the fourth floor where her cousins had all congregated.

"Alright, I'm here," Molly announced, immediately taking charge. She had to – her cousins had no leadership qualities, and if Molly didn't tell them what to do, they'd just sit around and talk all day instead of play, which was what they were all here for after all. "Does everyone know what they're doing?"

"We remember," six-year-old Roxanne assured her. "We played last year."

"No bathrooms," Molly reminded everyone anyway. "And Grandmother and Grandfather's bedroom is off limits. If you go downstairs, you forfeit. Is that clear?"

"Yes," Dominique rolled her eyes. "Just get on with it."

"Alright, does anyone want to count?" Molly asked, doing a quick survey of her cousins. When nobody volunteered, she knew she'd have to elect someone or else the game would never get started. "Well Lucy's still downstairs so – "

"I'll do it," James volunteered. "Lucy started last year, she shouldn't have to twice in a row."

"Alright then," Molly nodded. "Lucy, get up here!" she called out. The nine-year-old hurried up the stairs apologetically and Molly nodded. "Great, so we're all here then. James, cover your eyes and count."

Obediently, James did as instructed and as soon as the word 'one' was out of his mouth, the cousins made a mad dash for the two staircases.

Knowing that she'd have more time to find a hiding spot if she stayed on her current level, Molly dashed into her father's old bedroom and frantically looked around. She ran to the closet and threw the doors open, noting that there was a shelf at the top that she might be able to reach if she stood on a chair.

Not bothering to think it through, Molly dragged a chair over and boosted herself up onto the shelf, rolling inward so that she didn't fall onto the floor. As she positioned herself though, she realized that she had no way of moving the chair now that she was hidden, nor could she reach the doors to close them.

"Is anyone out there?" she hissed, hoping someone else was hiding in the room that could aid her. "Hello?"

There was no reply. She heard James come to the end of his count and was relieved when he started by going upstairs. At least she wouldn't be found first. There were so many cousins that he was bound to find someone else before her.

"I found you Fred!" she heard James cry from above. "I can't believe you thought I wouldn't find you there!" Molly let out a sigh of relief. She hadn't lost at least.

She heard footsteps coming down the stairs and tensed, but it was only Fred, returning to the starting point to wait for James to find the rest.

"Hey!" she hissed nervously, hoping James didn't descend too soon. "Hey Fred!"

Unfortunately, Fred didn't hear her, and soon she heard more footsteps descending from above.

"Anyone hiding on this level!" James called out. "I'm coming for you!"

Molly tried to make herself invisible, but it was no use. As soon as James entered the room, he started laughing and called her out of her spot.

"I didn't think it through, alright?" Molly insisted as she lowered herself back onto the chair.

"It would have been pretty good if you'd had a partner to close you in," James pointed out as he continued his search.

"Yeah," Molly nodded. "Well I didn't have one. I was on my own."

"Then you shouldn't be climbing on chairs you can't move," James said matter-of-factly before descending to the third floor.

Finding herself in a bad mood, Molly sat down on the fourth floor landing with her arms crossed and pouted. She was good at hide-and-seek, she was. She'd just made a bad call, it wasn't a big deal. Her other cousins did it all the time. Proof of fact: Fred, Roxanne, Lily, Hugo, Lucy, Dominique, and Louis had all been found.

"Where are Albus and Rose?" James grumbled in frustration.

"Not to mention Victoire and Teddy," Molly pointed out, but she understood her cousin's frustration. Albus and Rose were younger than he, so he should be able to find them easily. On the other hand though, they were smaller and better able to find creative hiding spots.

"Of course!" James cried suddenly. "I forgot to check the attic!"

Molly shook her head as her cousin ran upstairs. How careless of him! The best way to seek was to methodically search every room starting either from the top or bottom and working one's way through the house. To miss an entire level – well James clearly hadn't thought his job through either.

Victoire and Teddy were found hiding in the attic, leaving only Albus and Rose missing. Finally James gave up and called for them to give themselves up and they materialized from the second-floor closet.

"How did you? I checked in there!" James cried, but Albus and Rose only laughed, exchanging a secret look.

MmMmMmMmMmM

The game only lasted two more rounds before it was time for the annual Weasley family Quidditch game. Though it was the first year Molly was eligible to play, she elected to sit this one out. If she was going to play, she wanted to be good, and she knew her flying skills weren't yet optimal.

Dominique sat the game out as well – not surprising given her attitude towards flying and Quidditch alike. Victoire chose not to play, despite Teddy trying to convince her it would be fun. Instead it was the standard eight players, this year Angelina, Harry, Ron, and Bill versus Charlie, Ginny, Teddy, and George. Molly's parents never played. Neither had ever been a fan of the sport, viewing flying as a means of transportation and nothing more.

Dinner was the usual affair. Molly was surrounded by her younger cousins and had to remind them not to play with their food. Teddy and Victoire seemed much happier this year, which was nice, because the past two years they'd been kind of grumpy.

When dinner was over, everyone moved into the living room for Secret Santa. Molly had pulled Albus' name and with her parents' help had gotten him a book on beginner's grammar. From Molly's experience, it was good to have good grammar from an early age – once Albus got to Hogwarts and had to write essays, he'd thank her.

Ironically, Albus had pulled Molly's name and had gotten her a bracelet that Molly suspected Ginny had picked out. Molly told Albus it was very nice, though she knew she probably wouldn't wear it – she didn't like to have things dangling on her arm – it made it hard to write notes.

Once the presents had all been exchanged and everyone had opened their packages from Grandmother Weasley containing their Christmas sweaters – and had the annual family picture taken – people started making their goodbyes. Regrettably, Molly's mother was helping Grandmother Weasley with the dishes in the kitchen, so Molly knew she would be stuck here a while longer.

"Hey Molly," Dominique said, coming over and taking a seat next to Molly on the couch she had claimed.

"Hey Domi," Molly muttered, her thoughts on her textbooks waiting for her back home.

"So listen… I was talking to Victoire earlier and I just…" Dominique hesitated and Molly frowned, wondering what was weighing on her cousin's mind. "You hurt my feelings," Dominique finally said.

"I did?" Molly frowned. "When?"

"Last month," Dominique said. "When we ran into each other outside the hospital wing."

"Oh," Molly said, trying to recall the incident. She cast around in her brain, but all she could remember was that she was running, and she ran into Dominique, then she apologized and found Debbie. "What did I do?" she asked.

"I told you to slow down – you were running and seemed really stressed out. I told you that you needed to take a minute and breathe and that it was okay if you weren't studying for a minute and then…" Dominique trailed off, but Molly didn't need her to continue. She remembered. _Sorry if that doesn't mean much coming from you_. Those were the words she'd said.

"Look Domi," Molly began. "I didn't mean – Don't think that I don't – "

"You made me feel like I was an idiot or something," Dominique said. "Like I don't study or don't care about my grades. I do care. Not as much as you do obviously, but I still care, and I still try."

"Of course you do," Molly agreed, feeling terrible. "That was thoughtless of me. I was in a hurry, my friend was in the hospital and my other friends had said some things… I didn't mean it, I'm sorry. I know you're a good student. I saw your charms assignment pinned up in the kitchen."

"Okay," Dominique said awkwardly. "Well I just wanted to clear that up."

"Okay," Molly nodded. "Well I'm glad you did."

Dominique got up then and joined her family in leaving the Burrow. As she disappeared into the Floo Network, Molly rolled her eyes. Her cousin was _so_ annoying. And sensitive. It was ridiculous. She should just accept that she obviously didn't care about school like Molly did, and realize that if she did, she'd be doing well in more than just a single subject.

MmMmMmMmMmM

The next day, Molly celebrated Christmas with her immediate family; just her parents and Lucy. It was a quiet morning, but all Molly wanted to do was get back to her studying. It had been late when they'd gotten home the night before and she'd been tired and gone straight to bed. Then this morning, Lucy had awoken her with shrieks of excitement and dragged her into the living room for more present-opening.

As soon as they'd finished, Molly made straight for her room and dove straight into her History of Magic notes. She wanted to fact-check them with some books in her father's personal library before returning to Hogwarts.

Both unexpectedly and expectedly, there was soon a knock at the door.

"Molly?" Lucy's voice asked. "Do you want to play with me?"

"I'm busy Lucy," Molly said, grinding her teeth together in annoyance. She'd finally sat down to her notes and Lucy wanted to pull her away again.

"We can play hide and seek," Lucy offered.

"We just played that yesterday with all the cousins," I reminded her. "Wasn't that enough?"

"That was yesterday," Lucy whined.

"Your other cousins will be here in a few hours," Molly sighed. "They'll play with you. I'm busy."

Lucy sighed deeply, but departed obligingly. Molly couldn't understand why Lucy couldn't wait a few hours. Their mother's brother and his wife were coming for dinner, and would be bringing their son and daughter with them. Though the son was still young – only four – their daughter was only a year younger than Lucy and the two were great playmates. Lucky for Molly, her Uncle Thomas and Aunt Abigail didn't have any children her age, so she would be left alone.

"Molly?" Audrey knocked on Molly's door less than an hour later. "You cousins came a little early, do you want to come down and say hi?"

"I'm a little busy Mom," Molly insisted, waving her notes in the air. "Can't I just come down when it's time for dinner?"

"No," her mother said, her voice firm. "I want you downstairs now. Tommy (she meant Thomas Jr., her cousin) is asking for you and you know your Aunt Abigail can't wait to see you."

"Fine," Molly said, tossing her quill aside and resigning herself to joining her family, probably for the remainder of the afternoon. "Should've stayed at Hogwarts," she muttered to herself as she crossed the room.


	5. January Year 1

_Year 1: Outstanding_

Chapter 5: January 2015

It seemed like the Christmas holidays would never end. Two weeks went by extremely slowly. But eventually, it was time to return to Hogwarts, much to Molly's delight. Studying at home had proven a disaster. There were constant interruptions, not only by her younger sister, but by her mother, insisting she come downstairs for a snack, or visitors showing up at random. Even her father interrupted her on occasion, pretending to want to talk, though Molly knew he'd sooner leave her to study if Audrey weren't pushing him to 'bond' with her or whatever.

So it was a relief when Molly and her friends were finally able to return to their study room and settle back in. Molly smiled at the sight of the books she'd left behind, thinking she wouldn't need them in the two weeks she was away. Though she'd been right to leave them behind and not drag around the unnecessary weight, she'd still missed knowing they were nearby and was glad to be back with them.

When classes started up again, Molly was in heaven. It was one thing to revise material she'd already learned, or to read ahead in the textbook, but finally receiving new material felt wonderful. She hadn't realized how much she craved going to class until she was back and realized how much she'd missed it. It challenged her mind in a way that independent study simply didn't. And she loved having to think when the Professor asked questions, and the rush of raising her hand and hoping she was called on, and then when she was called on, there was that overwhelming sense of pride that she'd known the answer and said so out loud for everyone to hear. There was no substitute.

Now that it was a new term, the difficulty of the material had increased as well, much to Molly's satisfaction. In transfiguration, they'd moved on from the very simple inanimate to inanimate transfigurations to animate to inanimate transfiguration theory. It was significantly more complicated now that they were working with sentient beings and would require a certain degree of finesse. For now though, Molly was content in exploring the details of the theory and wrap her head around the various concepts.

In charms, they'd begun the theory of tactile spells – spells that change how an object feels. They were focusing primarily on the basics – softening charms and hardening charms to be specific. But the theory could be applied to all sorts of tactile spells – spells to make things slippery or rough, sticky or slimy. One thing Molly most enjoyed was that in both charms and transfiguration, they were working primarily with theory – they hadn't yet started the practical application. Though Molly had no objection to learning to practice the spells, her passion was in the theory.

Defence was another matter. Professor Derlid was all about the practical and rarely spent any in-class time on theory, claiming that the students could read the textbook on their own time and that his time was better spend working on the spells themselves. Currently, they were learning to make different colored sparks, as the various colors would mean different things in the wizarding world. Green sparks were a way to indicate that one was alright when split up from their companions; red sparks a way to call for help. In a duel, white sparks were an indication of surrender, while blue sparks were a request for a brief respite. Molly was much more interested in what the different colored sparks meant than being able to produce them, though she had no problems on that account. She wasn't completely on board with Professor Derlid's method of teaching anyway. He wanted to jump ahead to casting spells, but Molly believed that only once the theory was mastered should an individual attempt the practical. Probably the reason why so many students had trouble at the beginning while Molly and her friends mastered the sparks by their third try.

Herbology was a mixture of practical and theoretical. They were learning about the spiky bush, so Professor Longbottom had procured spiky bushes for each of the students to work with. However, the bushes were mostly tools for the students to better understand the theory and properties of the plant visually and most classes were spent in lecture format as Molly preferred.

In potions, they were learning about the properties of basic potions ingredients, for which Molly was grateful. In October, they'd brewed the forgetfulness potion, but Professor Abbott-Longbottom had never gone over why the combination of ingredients they'd used had produced the potion that it produced. They'd just blindly followed the recipe with no knowledge of why they were doing anything. Now, they were backtracking and covering the theory behind it, which Molly thought was strange and backwards, but at least they were doing it.

History of Magic was a delight as usual. They had finished the unit on dark wizards through history and had moved on to the history of laws concerning magical creatures. Specifically, they were starting with werewolves and the werewolf code of conduct and registration regulations. And in Astronomy, they had just started using their telescopes.

"Take a look and tell me what you see," Professor Brunwell said their first night back.

"There's a lot of black," Flora Bailey commented. Molly exchanged a look with Sarah and the two rolled their eyes. Flora could be so thick sometimes. Obviously the sky was black at night. That wasn't what Professor Brunwell was interested in.

"Very good," Professor Brunwell said, and Molly knew it was only because as a teacher he had to pretend that all students were smart, even when someone was being stupid. "But can you see anything else?"

"Stars," said Brady Hanson from Hufflepuff. "Maybe some are planets, but I don't know how to tell."

"Alright, good," Professor Brunwell said. "That's an excellent start. Now everyone rotate the second rotating piece ninety degrees clockwise and tell me what changes."

"It zoomed in a lot closer," Ethan Carpenter, from Ravenclaw, declared.

"And what do you think will happen when you rotate the third rotating piece?" Professor Brunwell asked.

"The image will become clearer," Julie replied without raising her hand.

"That's right," Professor Brunwell nodded. "Everyone try that and see what you can spot."

Molly carefully put her eye up to her telescope and slowly rotated the third rotating piece, watching in fascination as the star she was looking at became clearer and clearer. In fact, as it did, she realized that she wasn't looking at a star at all, but a planet.

"Professor Brunwell?" she asked, calling her teacher over. "What planet is this?"

Her teacher took a quick look through her telescope and then stepped back. "You tell me," he said. "What planet do you think you're looking at?"

"I don't know," Molly frowned, trying to think how she might determine this. Her teacher wouldn't ask if she didn't have the capacity to figure it out after all. "Let's see…" she said, mentally flipping through chapters of her Astronomy textbook. They hadn't covered the section on identifying planets in a telescope yet in class, but she'd read it through at least twice. "I have to pull back and look at it's surroundings, don't I?" Molly asked.

When her teacher nodded, Molly did just this, rotating her second rotating piece counter-clockwise to get a fuller view of the part of the sky she was looking at. "There!" Molly said excitedly. "There's a cluster of stars right there… and a moon there… And it's January now… which means… am I looking at Neptune?"

"You are," Professor Brunwell smiled. "Good job Molly, keep it up."

Molly smiled proudly as she continued looking around in the sky at the various stars, planets, and constellations.

After a while, Professor Brunwell called the class back to attention. "All right, now that you've all gotten a hang of your telescopes, I have a little assignment to give you all."

"Yes!" Molly whispered. "An assignment!" Professor Brunwell didn't assign homework every week, and Molly was always disappointed when he didn't – classes were so far apart as it was after all.

"In groups of four, over the course of the next two weeks, I want you all to choose a part of the sky and try to plot it into some form of map. I know we haven't studied star charts and won't for a while, and I don't want you to attempt a star chart either. I just want you to try to come up with a system – any system of your own invention – for representing what you're seeing in the sky on paper. And try to be accurate with your measurements."

This assignment would be a piece of cake, Molly thought to herself. With Sarah, Debbie, and Julie, they'd have the assignment completed before anyone else starting even thinking about it.

"You have this week to come up with your system, and then in class next week you'll do your actual mapping. Then you'll have the second week to clean up your map and you'll be handing them in at the beginning of class the following week," Professor Brunwell declared. "Now go ahead and find your groups, and once you have, you may go for the evening."

Molly had already made eye contact with her three friends, and by silent agreement, their team had been formed.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow?" Julie asked as the four grouped together near Molly's workstation.

"Sounds good," Sarah nodded. "It shouldn't be hard to come up with a plan."

"Super," Debbie smiled. "This will be easy. It's a good thing he's letting us pick our groups."

"Yeah," Molly agreed. "I hate when they choose for us. They always pair those of us that know what we're doing with someone who doesn't, probably thinking we'll help them improve, but it just turns out that they either mess things up or don't do anything at all.

The girls continued talking as they packed up their things and left the Astronomy Tower, heading back to Gryffindor and Ravenclaw Tower respectively.

"See you guys tomorrow," Molly waved as they reached the fork where they had to split up.

"See you tomorrow," Debbie waved back.

MmMmMmMmMmM

The following day, the four girls elected to skip lunch in favor of getting started on their astronomy collaboration.

"So obviously the measuring will be simple," Julie said, immediately taking charge. "We just attach a transparent ruler to the end of the telescope."

"I'm pretty sure there's actually an instrument we can insert behind the lens with measurements on it for measuring," Molly pointed out.

"Well obviously," Julie said. "But Professor Brunwell didn't mention them or offer them, so obviously we're supposed to do this without them, so that at the end he can produce them and be like, 'see how much easier it can be with these'?"

"Alright then, fine," Molly conceded, seeing Julie's point. Just because they knew things most students didn't and had read ahead in the book didn't mean they could ruin their Professor's lesson plan. "So we attach a ruler to the end."

"If we tape it on, it should hold pretty well," Sarah added. "It shouldn't be too difficult."

"Great, so we've got that sorted," Julie nodded. "Next we have to decide what to map."

"I think it should have both stars and planets in view," Debbie declared. "And maybe some moons. For variety, you know."

"Agreed," Julie said. "Just because we're going along with this ridiculous project doesn't mean we have to choose a simple portion of the sky to map. We can still show how advanced we are by doing a complicated map."

"And how should we identify the difference between a star and a planet and a moon?" Sarah wondered.

"We could use different symbols," Molly suggested. "You know, a dot for a planet, an asterisk for a star, maybe a little triangle for a moon."

"Or we could label them," Julie offered a different option. "In a real star chart, things would be labelled."

"Don't you think that would get kind of redundant?" Molly wondered. "If the whole page was just peppered with the words 'star', 'star', 'star', 'star', 'planet', 'moon', 'star', 'star'…"

"What if we identified which stars and moons and planets they are?" Debbie suggested.

"Don't you think that's jumping ahead just a bit too much?" Sarah pointed out. "If we're going to use a ruler instead of the lens insert in the name of keeping to the assignment, maybe we shouldn't just jump straight to the final exam quite yet."

"What's the harm?" Julie shrugged. "He seemed happy enough when Molly figured out she was looking at Neptune."

"It would be a lot of work," Molly pointed out.

"There's four of us," Julie replied. "We'll split the work. Unless you're not up for it?"

"Oh I'm up for it," Molly met her friend's challenge.

"Then we're decided," Julie smirked. "We're going to identify all the stars and planets in our map and label them accordingly."

"We should probably still use Molly's symbol system though," Debbie commented. "At least the night we map it. So that when we go back we know which are which."

"Good thought," Julie nodded. "Agreed."

MmMmMmMmMmM

The following week, the four girls hurried to the Astronomy Tower half an hour early, eager to get the best spot and to get their telescope set up before everyone else arrived. They only had the one class period to get down as much as they could – even if they broke curfew to come back up tomorrow, the planets would have shifted, and they'd never get a perfect map. No, they had to do it in one shot.

"Girls," Professor Brunwell said in surprise. "You're here early."

"We don't want to waste any time," Julie said, handing Debbie and Molly the transparent ruler she'd procured to tape to the end of Sarah's telescope.

"That's a very interesting set up you've got there," Professor Brunwell said, noticing the ruler. "I'm impressed by your creativity."

 _See?_ Julie mouthed to the others with a smirk. "I knew the ruler was a good idea," she muttered.

As soon as they were ready, Julie chose their mapping site, focusing in on the area that she wanted mapped.

"So we should take turns at the lens," Julie declared. "That way none of us strains our eyes too much. I'll go first."

Julie pressed her eye up to the telescope and made a mark on their paper. "Okay that's the planet right in the center," she declared. "Everything else we'll measure the distance from that."

"What do we do about the angles?" Sarah asked suddenly. "We have the ruler for distance, but we didn't think about the angles."

"Does anyone have a protractor with them?" Molly asked. "We could hold it up to the lens when we need to."

"We'll have to untape the ruler or it'll get in the way," Julie whined.

"Well better we switch between the two than have all our angles be off," Molly pointed out.

"I have a protractor," Debbie said, producing one from her bag. Sarah hurried to untape the ruler from the end of the telescope and Julie peered through the lens.

"Alright, hold up the protractor," she said to Debbie. "Molly get read to jot this down. The first star is… two degrees from horizontal on the left side of the center planet and… Sarah get the ruler into position. Tilt it just a little… No the other way. There you go. Okay stop! It's… 40 thous from the center planet."

Molly jotted this down and then measured it on the map, marking a small asterisk in the correct spot.

"Alright, rotate," Julie ordered, moving to take Molly's place at the map while Molly grabbed the protractor from Debbie and Debbie took the protractor from Sarah. Sarah leaned down and looked through the telescope.

"Okay I see the star you just did," Sarah said to Julie. "I'm going to do the one next to it. Where's that protractor?"

Molly held it up and moved it until Sarah was satisfied with it's positioning. "Okay, this one is three degrees from horizontal, also on the left of the center planet and… ruler please! Let's see… right there! Forty nine thous from the center."

Julie made a note of this and located the spot on the map, marking it and then giving the quill to Sarah as she took the protractor from Molly and Molly took the ruler from Debbie. Debbie stepped up to the telescope and chose the next star, taking just a little longer than either Sarah or Julie to get the measurements, but finally settling on them and switching again.

This time was Molly's turn to look through the telescope. She peered through and saw almost a hundred stars surrounding the central planet and almost cried right there. This would take forever! She knew they had to work fast, so she picked a star and had Julie and Sarah measure it for her, dictating it's location to Debbie for mapping.

"This would probably go faster if we all kept one job," Molly noted when her turn was over. "We're wasting time rotating."

"Alright," Julie agreed, having come to a similar conclusion already. "Then I'll look through the telescope. Molly you should take the protractor and Debbie the ruler. Sarah should do the actual plotting.

Everyone agreed, knowing that a prolonged discussion on the topic would only put them behind. They took their positions and the mapping started to go much faster, especially since Julie could identify the next star and start having it measured while Sarah plotted the last one, saving even more time.

Before they knew it, the whole things was finished and Professor Brunwell was looking over their map, impressed.

"This is very accurate," he noted. "I can even tell what part of the sky you've mapped our here. Do you want to hand it in now?"

"Well we're not really finished with it yet…" Debbie said hesitantly. "We still have to clean it up and label it."

"Listen girls, you can hold on to it if you want, but if you hand it in now, it'll receive an Outstanding, so I don't see any reason why you'd want to keep working on it," their Professor said.

The girls shared a look. They could hand it in now and get their Outstanding. But if they did, it would always be unfinished. They'd never have put in all the work they could have.

"We'll hold on to it," Molly said on behalf of the group. "Trust me, it'll look even better next week."

Professor Brunwell was skeptical, but allowed them to hold onto their project.

Over the next week, the girls poured over their map, first identifying the central planet and then the surrounding moons, based on the orientation for the month and year. Then they started labelling the stars, consulting book after book from the library to ensure that they were right. If they handed the map in now with a mistake, it would be worse than if they'd handed it in before, unfinished.

They finished the day before the project was due and were all extremely proud of their feat. When they brought it up to the Astronomy Tower for class, none of them could hide their pride. Julie deposited the project on Professor Brunwell's desk and the girls hovered, eager to hear what he would have to say.

"This is quite something girls," Professor Brunwell said, looking down at their map. "You've even identified the names of all the stars. Many of these we haven't even covered in class. You've certainly gone above and beyond in this project."

"It was nothing," Julie said, acting humble, but not really pulling it off.

"Well you certainly didn't need to do all this, but I'm impressed. Outstandings all around," their teacher said.

Feeling happy and gratified, Molly led her friends over to the workstations and they all started setting up for class. Maybe they'd put in more work than they'd needed, but it had been worth it. Molly smiled as she set up her telescope for another night of stargazing. If anything else, she didn't need to worry about her grades in astronomy.


	6. February Year 1

_Year 1: Outstanding_

Chapter 6: February 2015

Since the beginning of February, the first years had been learning about the Jelly-Legs Jinx. It was the most complex defensive spell they were covering yet, and Professor Derlid wanted to be sure to cover the theory in full before letting anyone attempt it. Molly was happy to see her Professor finally using his common sense and actually teaching theory instead of having them study it on their own – things were always much easier to grasp when explained in class. However, even Molly had to admit that the amount of time they were spending on this was excessive.

"I mean, just get on with it," Molly whispered to Debbie one day in class. Molly never whispered in class, usually always paying strict attention to the lecture, but Professor Derlid was repeating himself for the third time and Molly had understood the first. "Can't we just try the spell, see how it goes, and then move on?"

"I know," Debbie agreed. "If people don't understand by now, they're not going to with another lecture."

"Well I can see that some of you are getting restless," Professor Derlid said, eyeing Molly and Debbie and making Molly bow her head in shame. It was the lowest of lows to be called out like this my her teacher. At least he hadn't called Molly by name, or she'd never be able to show her face in class again. "I think I've explained this theory enough though, so lets clear the room and pair up. Show me if you understand."

Relieved to be doing something other than staring at her fingernails, Molly pushed her desk and chair to the side of the room with the others and then stood with Debbie while Sarah and Julie stood together nearby, paired and ready to go.

"Remember," Professor Derlid said. "The incantation is _Locomotor Wibby_. It may take a while to get it, but I'm confident at least some of you will have managed it by the end of class today. And make sure to use the mats, because if your partner gets the spell right, you'll probably fall over with the loss of control over your legs.

Molly hurried over to the cabinet where their teacher kept a bunch of rolled up mats and grabbed two for Debbie and herself. Returning to her partner, they positioned themselves a good distance apart and placed the mats on the floor behind them in case they fell back.

By silent agreement, Debbie went first, holding her wand carefully in front of her and uttering the incantation. When nothing happened, Molly sent some encouraging words her way (don't worry, it was only your first try) and then tried the spell for herself.

When nothing happened, Molly felt herself deflate. After all the work they'd done on the theory, she'd been confident that she'd have no problem casting the spell. She ignored Debbie assuring her that she just needed to try a few more times and chastised herself. She hadn't been focused enough. Next time, she would focus better.

Molly's turn came around again, and she once again failed to cast the spell. She wondered if she was doing the wand movement wrong and double checked her notes, but was disappointed to find that she was in fact doing it correctly. She couldn't understand why it hadn't worked – she was focused, her wand movement was correct, and her pronunciation was clear and concise.

Across the room, there was a shout and Molly turned to see that Julie had successfully charmed Sarah and Sarah was now laying on her back on the mat, her feet spasming uncontrollably.

"Excellent!" Professor Derlid congratulated Julie, hurrying over to cast the counter-curse on Sarah. "Very good indeed. Now lets all the rest of you try and copy Julie here."

Molly redoubled her efforts. Now that Julie had beaten her to first in the class, Molly was determined to be second. For some reason though, she just couldn't get the spell to work. She tried enunciating differently, tried emphasizing different syllables of the spell, tried a slight modification to her wand movement, but nothing worked.

Suddenly, a jolt of light hit Molly's legs and they collapsed under her. Realizing what was happening, Molly leaned backwards, so that she would fall onto her mat and then lay there in frustration as she waited for her teacher to arrive and reverse the curse.

"How did you do that?" Molly demanded once she was upright again. Her legs still felt a little wobbly and she held her hands out to steady herself.

Debbie shrugged. "Just what Professor Derlid taught us," Debbie said. "I followed the theory exactly."

"Then why isn't it working for me?" Molly frowned to herself.

Since Debbie had successfully cast the curse once already, she took a break, giving Molly some time to try to curse her. To Molly's horror, Sarah also managed to cast the curse before she did, and then even worse, Curtis Pullman cursed his partner Jared Reubens.

"He's not even one of us!" Molly hissed in Debbie's direction.

Debbie shrugged. "Maybe Defence just isn't your thing," she suggested.

Molly fumed at that. How could Debbie suggest such a thing? Every class was Molly's thing. She didn't have good classes and bad classes. She wasn't some average students with strengths and weaknesses. School was supposed to be her place to shine, no matter the class. Today though, Molly wasn't shining.

Before she knew it, Professor Derlid announced that class was over, and Molly found herself surrounded by students rolling up their mats and putting them away.

"But… what?" Molly frowned, feeling a little like she wasn't connected to her body. "How - ?" How could class be over? Molly hadn't succeeded in performing the spell. That had never happened. She always got the spell in the first class. She was never at the bottom of the class in anything.

"You're hardly at the bottom," Debbie assured her. Molly startled, not realizing she'd spoken aloud. "Only seven people got the spell today anyway."

"So at best I'll be the eighth?" Molly said, eyes bulging, horrified at the thought. "I might as well be last at that point!"

"Don't overreact," Debbie rolled her eyes. "Eighth isn't bad."

"Only because you were second," Molly grumbled, rolling up her own mat and shoving it into the cabinet. "You don't understand."

"Look, it's not a big deal," Debbie assured her. "Come on, we have potions."

MmMmMmMmMmM

That afternoon, Molly couldn't get the events of Defence class out of her head. She re-read the entire chapter on the Jelly-Legs Jinx, but couldn't figure out what she was doing wrong. Looking up, she glanced around their private study room at her friends. They were all completely absorbed in the various assignments that they were working on. Surely they wouldn't notice if…

Molly quietly slid her wand out of her bag and grasped it in her hand. Sarah was the closest to her, and at the best angle, so she pointed her wand in the Gryffindor's direction and under her breath began to mumble, " _Locomotor Wibbly. Locomotor Wibbly_."

"Molly, what are you doing?" Sarah asked after a few minute, dropping her quill and turning to face her.

"Nothing," Molly said, shoving her wand up her sleeve and pretending to be reading her textbook.

"You're trying to cast the Jelly-Legs Jinx on me, aren't you?" Sarah demanded accusingly.

"So what if I am?" Molly countered. "It's not like I can do it, so nothing's going to happen."

"It's not that complicated," Sarah replied. "Which means you're going to get it soon, and I'd rather it not be while I'm in the middle of a history assignment. It's tough enough without having my legs quivering with no way to stop them. Professor Derlid isn't here to do the counter-curse."

"Oh yeah," Molly said, not having thought that far ahead. "Sorry."

"We would've figured it out," Julie assured Sarah. "The counter-curse can't be much harder than the curse after all – we're learning it next anyway."

"Well still, it'd be nice not to have to worry about it at all," Sarah replied.

"Alright," Molly said in surrender, returning her wand to her bag. "No more practicing Defence. I'll just do my herbology essay."

"Thank you," Sarah nodded, satisfied.

As her friends went back to their work, Molly sighed. They didn't understand what it was like. To be unable to cast a spell – and a simple curse at that, which they'd been learning about for a week and a half already. It was humiliating. Molly simply had to get it soon, or she didn't know if she could live with herself.

MmMmMmMmMmM

They didn't have Defence the next day, which was a Friday, so Molly had to wait all through the weekend before she had another chance to try casting the spell. To her horror, Professor Derlid ordered that those who had cast the spell successfully partner each other and stay separate from those who had yet to cast it successfully. Molly reluctantly had to pair up with Austin Bell, a boy in Gryffindor who thought everything was one big joke.

"Still can't cast it then?" he asked as Molly set up her mat on the floor.

Molly shook her head, embarrassed.

"Well that's a first for you," he noted. "Nice to know you're human too."

Molly didn't respond to that. Instead, she played it over in her head, using it as motivation to get the spell right for once. Again and again she tried. She said the incantation and did the wand movement, but still nothing happened. When Austin lazily flicked his wand and murmured the words and a jet of light his Molly for a second time, she could have screamed.

"Not you too!" she cried.

"Sure looks like it," Austin smirked, coming over to stand over Molly as her legs wobbled on the floor. "It was nice knowing you."

Since Austin had cast the spell, Molly had to shuffle partners to allow Austin to practice with someone else who had gotten it. Unfortunately for her, her new partner turned out to be worse than Austin. She was paired with Tim Hall – a Slytherin who took it upon himself to mock Molly for her inability to do a simple curse.

"You can't do it either," Molly pointed out at one point.

Tim shrugged. "I could if I wanted to, but I can't."

"I think you just can't," Molly threw back.

Tim shrugged again. "Believe what you will," he said. "And I'll believe what I will."

Molly ground her teeth in frustration. His attitude was only making her angrier, and the angrier she got, the less focused she was becoming.

Before long, class was over and Molly actually did cry out in frustration.

"What's wrong?" Debbie asked, coming over.

"I still can't get the darn spell to work," Molly cried. "I don't know what I'm doing wrong!"

"Have you tried – "

"Don't bother Debbie," Molly interrupted. "I'll figure it out on my own. I don't need your pity."

"I just – "

"Save it," Molly said, not sure why she was suddenly so mad at her friend. "Just leave me alone."

It was their last class of the day, and as Molly stormed out of the classroom, she realized she didn't know where to go. She couldn't go to the study room. Not after how she'd just spoken to Debbie. She didn't really want to see any of her friends right now. They were just reminders that she was a failure.

Sighing, Molly slowly made her way to the common room. That's where all the average students hung out after all. Maybe she just had to accept that she wasn't special in any way and give up.

She arrived in the common room and took up a seat in an armchair in a corner – not a prime spot, so nobody would harass her for it, but also still comfortable. Morosely, she curled up in a ball and stared at the floor. If she couldn't be exceptional, then she just wouldn't be anything. She'd just sit here and wither away.

"Molly?" her cousin, Dominique, asked, stepping towards her cautiously. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Molly replied, her voice devoid of emotion. "I'm just sitting."

"Can I get you something?" Dominique offered. "Some water or some food maybe?"

"No," Molly replied again.

Dominique frowned, clearly torn between helping her cousin and going back to whatever she'd been doing. "Can I – "

"Just go," Molly said. "Leave me here to rot."

"Alright, clearly something's wrong," Dominique said, pulling another chair over and sitting down. "Out with it. I don't have all day."

"I'm fine," Molly lied. "Just go be with your friends and don't worry about me."

"Molly you're my cousin," Dominique pointed out. "I can't just leave you here if something's wrong. Tell me, and maybe I can help."

Molly sighed. She saw no way out of it. She'd have to tell Dominique, and then Dominique would know and probably laugh at her and make her feel worse. She didn't want to, but she went ahead, hoping it would at least get Dominique to leave her alone.

"I can't cast the Jelly-Legs Jinx," Molly admitted.

Dominique frowned at her, clearly confused. "So what?" she asked.

It was Molly's turn to be confused. "What do you mean so what?" she demanded. "I can't cast it. I've tried, and over and over again I've failed."

"Well how many times have you tried?" Dominique asked.

Molly sighed. "Too many to count," she said.

"I mean how many classes have you been practicing," Dominique clarified.

"Oh," Molly nodded. Then she felt herself turn red as she prepared to give her answer. "Two," she muttered.

"Only two?" Dominique asked. "And already you've given up?"

"I don't think you heard me," Molly insisted. "It's been _two_ classes. That's two entire periods worth of attempts that just ended in nothing. Do you realize how many students in my class have already gotten the spell?"

Dominique shrugged. "A lot, I'm guessing?"

"Half," Molly informed her moodily. "Which means I'm in the bottom half of the class now. And soon I'll be the only one in the whole of first year who can't do a simple Jelly-Legs Jinx."

"Well now you're just overreacting," Dominique said. "It took me four classes to get that spell, but I eventually got it."

"But you're you," Molly said. She saw Dominique's face starting to crumple and immediately regretted having said that. "No, I didn't mean – I'm sorry. I just – you're right. I'll get it eventually."

"You know what really helps?" Dominique asked.

"What?" Molly wondered.

"Getting help from your friends," Dominique replied. "We do it all the time in second year. All the Gryffindors get together, and we help each other out."

"I don't need anyone's help," Molly said proudly. "I'll figure this out on my own."

"Well it's up to you," Dominique said with a shrug. "But a little help could go a long way."

Dominique left then, leaving Molly to her thoughts. She supposed she could ask her friends for help. But then they'd know how desperate she was. Not that they didn't already – they knew she still couldn't cast the spell. It wasn't like she was hiding that from them.

Deciding to swallow her pride, Molly got up and left the common room, making her way to the study room, where she knew they'd all be.

"Hey," she said nervously, pushing the door open and peering inside.

"Hey," Julie replied back, not looking up from her transfiguration homework.

"Can I ask you guys a favor?" Molly asked, her face heating up in embarrassment. She tried her best to ignore it and plowed forward.

"Sure," Sarah agreed. "What is it?"

"Can you guys help me with the Jelly-Legs Jinx?" she asked. "Because I just can't get it on my own. Maybe if you take a look at what I'm doing, you can tell me if you notice anything amiss?"

"Of course," Debbie said immediately.

"I'll look up the counter-curse," Julie offered. "For when you do get it."

"You can practice on me," Sarah offered.

"Thanks," Molly smiled gratefully.

They went to the classroom next door to practice – they didn't want to make a mess in the study room in case Sarah fell over from the spell.

Trying to forget about the pressure of her three friends watching her, Molly closed her eyes, focused her mind, and cast the spell, feeling a small bit of disappointment when nothing happened. It would have been nice if she'd gotten it that last time, before her friends tried to fix it.

"Try holding your wand a little closer to your body," Julie suggested.

Molly tried again, but still nothing happened.

"Maybe try standing with your feet apart," Debbie offered.

Molly tried this too, but the spell remained unsuccessful.

Her friends offered suggestion after suggestion, each less helpful than the last until finally, just as Molly was about to give up, a jet of light flew out of her wand and hit Sarah's legs, sending her careening backward and causing her to hit her head on the stone floor.

"Ouch!" Sarah cried out. "I wish I had a mat now!"

"I did it!" Molly exclaimed in excitement. "I really did it!"

"See?" Debbie said. "I knew you would. You just needed to keep practicing."

"Can someone please get me off the floor?" Sarah pleaded.

"Hang on, let me double check the incantation for the counter-curse," Julie said in a hurry, flipping her textbook open. She found the correct line and then ran over to Sarah, removing the curse in two tries.

"Can we get back to our homework now then?" Julie asked then.

"Of course," Molly agreed, feeling her old self creeping back in. "We've lots to do after all. transfiguration assignment, astronomy reading, charms practice, revising of history and herbology notes…"

"Not to mention that potions essay we got assigned today," Debbie added. "We'd better get started."

The girls returned to the study room and Molly slid her wand back into her bag, no longer in need of it. She was relieved to have finally managed to cast the spell. She hadn't done anything differently that she was aware of, but it was like Debbie had said. She'd just needed to keep practicing, and eventually, it had happened for her. Maybe sometimes that was what it took. Time, effort, and lots and lots of practice.


	7. March Year 1

_Year 1: Outstanding_

Chapter 7: March 2015

"Come on Molly, it's curfew in ten minutes, we have to go," Sarah said from the doorway.

"I'm almost done, I swear," Molly muttered, scribbling away furiously. If only she could finish the conclusion, her astronomy essay would be complete.

"We don't have time for this," Sarah repeated, torn between waiting for her friend and leaving her behind.

"Just one more… there!" Molly said, throwing her quill aside and rolling up her essay. "Finished."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Well good," she said. "But the conclusion could have waited for tomorrow. It's only due next week."

"I didn't want to lose my train of thought," Molly replied. "I knew what I wanted to say and was likely to forget it if I'd left it for the night."

"Fine," Sarah said. "But you're cutting it really close, you know."

"I know," Molly nodded. "But it's fine, we can get back to Gryffindor Tower before anyone spots us. Besides, don't they give like, a five minute grace period anyway?"

"I don't really want to stand around and find out," Sarah replied as Molly finished packing her things away and the two hurried out into the corridor and towards the stairs.

Julie and Debbie had left twenty minutes ago and had told Sarah to just leave Molly behind, but Sarah had stayed. Molly wasn't sure if it was loyalty, or that Sarah just didn't want to find herself in their dormitory alone with Flora and the others.

Their dormmates were lovely people, truly they were. They just weren't people Molly or Sarah would ever have chosen as room mates. Or even as acquaintances. Or really anything involving interaction of any kind.

They reached the portrait of the Fat Lady and gave her the password, waiting for her to open before climbing through. A quick glance around the common room told the girls that their dormmates were probably up in the dormitory – unless they were out past curfew, which Molly seriously doubted.

Hoping their room mates would be asleep already and that they could get ready for bed in peace, Molly opened the door to their dorm and pushed it open, peering in slowly.

"There you are Molly!" an over-excited Flora cried. "Is Sarah with you?"

"Say no!" Sarah hissed behind Molly. Unfortunately, it was already too late.

"There she is! I see her!" Amber exclaimed.

"Good to see you all," Molly said in a forced voice. "But we were just heading to bed."

"So early?" Eliza frowned. "On a Friday night?"

"Not a chance," Flora shook her head. "You're hanging out with us."

"Oh no," Sarah shook her head. "That's really not – "

"It's not optional," Flora said, her face suddenly serious. "We don't hang out nearly enough for dormmates, so we have decided that all five of us are going to have a slumber party tonight."

"We don't really do slumber parties…" Molly tried to explain.

"Well you're doing this one," Flora declared. "Come on, get over here or we'll drag you over."

With a deep sigh, Molly reluctantly walked over and joined the other three girls on Flora's bed. Sarah followed, the two perching just on the edge of the bed as if they were prepared to flee – which they were.

"We thought we'd start with manicures," Flora said. "We've got red, pink, or purple nail polish."

"Oh, I don't wear nail polish," Molly said, thinking of the heart attack she might give her father if he saw her nails so frivolously decorated.

"Well you are tonight," Flora said. "Amber, why don't you do Molly's fingers and I'll do Sarah's. I'm sure they don't have as much experience as we do, and we want them to look good."

Feeling a bit like a barbie doll, Molly obediently held out her hand while Amber held different colored nail polishes to her skin, trying to decide which to use.

"This one," she finally decided, going with a deeper purple. "Your skin is so light, this will contrast it beautifully."

Next to her, Flora had chosen red for Sarah.

The nail polish took forever – four coats in fact, with drying time in between. Molly hadn't realized that nail polish was so complicated. There was the base coat, then two color coats, and then a top coat to seal it in. It seemed a little excessive to be honest.

When the top coat was finally dry, Molly hoped that she could escape and go to bed, but Flora had other ideas.

"We should do your hair!" she exclaimed. "I bet nobody's ever done either of your hair."

"Well I brush mine in the morning," Sarah shrugged.

Flora stifled a giggle. "We are so doing your hair."

"Isn't it kind of a waste?" Molly asked. "I mean, we're just going to go to bed and then it'll be ruined anyway."

"But that's not the point at all!" Flora cried. "This is a slumber party! These are the sorts of things girls do at slumber parties!"

"Well you'd know better than me," Molly shrugged, allowing herself to be positioned with her back to Flora and the other two girls. Suddenly, she felt hands in her hair and Molly cringed. She didn't like having people touching her so much, it made her uncomfortable. She took a breath and held it, knowing that this night couldn't go on forever at least. Soon she'd be allowed to sleep, and then she could go back to thinking about potions and transfiguration instead of hair and nails.

"Don't worry Sarah, you're next," Flora promised. Molly felt tugging and pulling in every direction and was conscious of the fact that parts of her hair were being braided.

"What are you even doing back there?" she asked.

"You'll see when we're done," Eliza promised.

Molly looked at Sarah, hoping for an answer from her, but Sarah simply shrugged her shoulders unhelpfully.

After an exorbitant amount of time, Molly's hair was deemed satisfactory and the three girls moved on to Sarah's hair. Wondering if this was her chance, Molly wandered over to her trunk and grabbed her pyjamas and her bathroom kit and then began sidling towards the door to the bathroom.

"Where are you going?" Amber asked.

"Oh, just to put my pyjamas on," Molly replied, cursing Merlin for being noticed.

"Good idea!" Flora exclaimed. "After we finish Sarah's hair, we should all put on our pyjamas. Slumber parties are always so much more fun in pyjamas."

With a sigh, Molly slipped into the bathroom, grateful to at least have a minute of privacy. Her hair looked ridiculous, she noted, looking in the mirror. It was a mess of braids, half pinned up and half down and Molly was pretty sure the girls had just moved her hair around for the sake of it. She decided to take out the pins as they were hurting her scalp – she would deal with Flora's rage happily. Maybe Flora would even let her go to bed!

Molly didn't understand it. Why was Flora suddenly so interested in bonding with her and Sarah? Why couldn't they have just gone on forever, mutually agreeing not to interfere in each other's lives? Things were working out perfectly up until now, so what had changed?

From the other side of the door, she could hear that Sarah's hair was finished and she knew the girls would be joining her any minute to put on their own pyjamas, so Molly changed hurriedly and then brushed her teeth for good measure, spitting her toothpaste into the sink just as Amber entered the room.

"Molly!" Amber cried. "You didn't just brush your teeth, did you?"

"Yeah," Molly replied with a shrug. "So what? I like having clean teeth."

"But we were going to eat sweets later," Amber cried.

"Oh, well I don't really eat sweets much," Molly said. "Especially not this late at night. If I eat them before bed, I can never sleep."

"Don't worry," Flora said, appearing in the doorway. "She can always brush her teeth again after we eat the sweets."

Molly frowned. Did nobody care about what she wanted? Did nobody care that she didn't want purple nails or pins in her scalp or to eat sweets late at night?

"Hey Flora," Molly ventured, suddenly feeling brave. "How about if Sarah and I choose the next activity?"

"That's a good idea," Flora agreed. "This slumber party is for all of us after all."

"Great!" Molly said, catching Sarah's eye. She didn't need to confer with her friend to know Sarah would like this suggestion better than what they'd already been doing. "How about we quiz each other on properties of potions ingredients?" she suggested.

All three of the girls looked up at Molly with confused expression.

"Why would we do that at a slumber party?" Flora wondered.

"It's fun," Molly replied. "And, you know, we can mix it up, try and trick each other by asking for properties of say… lavender sprigs when used in awakening potion, but lavender sprigs aren't even an ingredient of that particular potion!"

"That's not fun," Eliza disagreed. "That's homework."

"But homework is fun," Sarah disagreed.

"Well there's no homework at slumber parties," Flora declared. "No, we're not going to do that next. Instead, we're going to do… makeovers!"

Molly sighed. It had been worth a shot, she supposed.

Suddenly, she felt herself being maneuvered into a chair in front of one of the bathroom mirrors and bags of makeup supplies were retrieved. Sarah had been forced into a chair next to Molly and the two stared at the tubes and brushes apprehensively.

"I'm not really allowed to wear makeup," Sarah confessed.

"Neither am I," Molly agreed. "My parents would go insane."

"Well they're not here, are they?" Amber pointed out as she rummaged through her bag for something. "What they never know can't hurt them."

MmMmMmMmMmM

By the time the makeovers were over, Molly felt like her face had been covered in about eight inches of gunk. It itched something terrible, but every time she tried to scratch, Flora batted her hand away, saying she'd ruin it.

"I think I'm allergic to something you put on me though," Molly countered. Flora ignored her.

"Next up… ghost stories!" Flora exclaimed, packing away the last of the makeup supplies and leading Molly and Sarah back into the dorm. "Amber tells a fantastic one," she explained.

"But ghost stories aren't scary," Molly frowned. "We talk to ghosts every day."

"Yes," Amber said, using a deep, 'spooky' voice. "But have you ever heard the story of the ghost that died right here, in Gryffindor Tower?" Eliza put out two of the three torches in the room to make the room darker, but neither Molly nor Sarah were affected.

"Nobody ever died in Gryffindor Tower," Sarah shook her head.

"How would you know?" Flora demanded.

"Haven't you ever read _Hogwarts: A History_?" Molly asked.

"Why would I read that?" Flora countered. "It's not on the required reading list."

Molly shook her head. "Well if someone had died here, it would be written in there."

"Well this," Amber said, trying to recapture her crowd. "Is an untold story. Nobody tells it, because it's so horrible."

"If nobody ever tells it, then where did you hear it?" Sarah demanded.

"And why would you tell it now?" Molly added.

"Because it – I – oh just shut up and listen to the story," Amber demanded.

Molly decided to acquiesce, figuring that Amber could tell her story and then she could go to bed in peace. After a few minutes though, Molly's face really started to itch, worse than before, and Molly couldn't take it anymore, getting up abruptly and running to the bathroom to throw some water on it.

"What do you think you're doing?" Flora demanded.

"I couldn't – so itchy – " Molly gasped, scraping all the makeup off as she tried to bring relief to her skin. It burned now, but the water felt good, so she kept splashing it on her face.

"Well I give up!" Flora cried, throwing her hands up in the air in defeat. "First you ruined your hair by taking it down almost as soon as we'd perfected it. Then you ruined the ghost story with all your questions and comments, and now you're destroying your face, which we spent almost an hour putting together. I tried to be nice, but you – both of you – are just ungrateful and just… mean."

Sarah was standing just behind Flora throughout this explosion and as Flora turned and stomped away, she bumped Sarah's shoulder, purposefully causing Sarah to stumble and have to reach out to steady herself.

"Well… on the positive side, it sounds like the slumber party is over," Sarah said, coming fully into the bathroom and pulling the door closed behind her. "Here, I'll help you get that off."

"Thanks," Molly said gratefully, sinking into a chair as Sarah wet a face towel and wiped away all the cream and powder.

"You know, I think you really were allergic to something they put on you," Sarah commented then. "Your face is all blotchy and red."

Molly sighed. "If it hasn't cleared up by morning I'll go and see Madam Eldridge," she decided.

Sarah finished cleaning off Molly's face and the girls switched so that Molly could get all the junk off of Sarah's face. They couldn't very well go to sleep with all this on, after all. They'd make a mess of their pillows, not to mention what their faces might look like upon waking.

"There," Molly said finally. "That's all of it."

"Thanks," Sarah said, reaching around her head to take her hair down. "What's Flora's deal, anyway? Why do you think she was so eager to have this slumber party or whatever?"

"I don't know," Molly shook her head. "At least we don't have to worry about it happening again. I think Flora's figured out that it was a bad idea."

"Terrible," Sarah nodded. "I was afraid she was going to force us to have a pillow fight or something."

"That would have been awful!" Molly cried, covering her mouth to keep from laughing at the thought. "Oh I'm so glad it came to an end when it did."

"I would have been happy if it had ended a little sooner," Sarah commented. "Though I really liked your idea about quizzing each other on potions. Maybe once exams get a little closer we should implement it as part of our study regimen with Julie and Debbie. I bet they'd be down for some collaboration."

"I'll suggest it to them," Molly agreed.

Having finished cleaning themselves up, the two girls left the bathroom, venturing nervously into the dorm again. Flora was sitting on her bed, with Eliza and Amber on either side of her, comforting her as she cried. When they saw Molly and Sarah, Amber and Eliza immediately pulled the curtains around the bed shut, blocking Flora's view of them.

"Whatever," Molly shrugged, not caring that they'd been rebuffed. "She's such a drama queen."

"Yeah," Sarah agreed. "She'll get over it."

"Well goodnight," Molly said, climbing into her own bed and pulling her curtains shut.

"Goodnight," Sarah returned.

MmMmMmMmMmM

The next morning, Molly was pleased to discover that the red splotchy-ness on her face had mostly cleared up. She wouldn't have to go see Madam Eldridge after all.

Flora was still asleep, curtains drawn. Eliza and Amber's beds didn't look as though they'd been slept in, and Molly assumed that they had spent the night with Flora, comforting her or whatever.

As soon as they were ready, Molly and Sarah left the dorm, hurrying out of the common room and down to the Great Hall for some breakfast before they retired to their study room for the day – it was Saturday, which meant lots of time to study with little to no interruptions.

Molly and Sarah joined Julie and Debbie at the Ravenclaw table for breakfast that morning, sitting down across from each other and dragging some pancakes onto their plates.

"Good morning," Julie greeted them. "How was your night? Did you get back alright? You didn't get caught out after curfew, did you?"

"Nope, we made it back in time, that's for sure," Sarah muttered, sharing a look with Molly. "It was just a regular night. Nothing special."

"Then why are your fingernails red?" Debbie asked, pointing to Sarah's right hand. "And Molly, why are yours purple?"

Molly let out a sigh of exasperation. Of course they'd forgotten to remove the nail polish last night. With everything that had happened, they were bound to have missed something."

"It's a long story," Sarah told her. "You don't want to hear it."


	8. April Year 1

_Year 1: Outstanding_

Chapter 8: April 2015

Molly was excited. All month they'd been studying the wideye potion, analyzing its ingredients and their properties in preparation for this. Finally it was here. Of course, Molly enjoyed the theory immensely. Arguably more than the actual brewing. But it was also incredibly rewarding when she finally got to find out if all her learned theory was up to scratch.

It was only the third potion the first years would be brewing – first was the forgetfulness potion, and then there was the herbicide potion back in February. Now they would be attempting the wideye – or awakening – potion, which was exciting, because it required new ingredients that they'd never worked with before.

They had a double period to make their potions – ample time to ensure that they followed all the steps and didn't miss anything. Molly happily set up her workstation, getting her cauldron into position and then arranging her other tools the way she liked them. The first two potions had also been a lot about learning how to organize herself when brewing – at least it had been for Molly. Now though, she had things pretty much figured out. She liked to keep her stirring rod on the right side of the cauldron with her scales, while leaving her knives and her mortar and pestle on the left. The right side would be for tidier work, and the left side for the messy.

"Alright class, attention on me please," Professor Abbott-Longbottom requested. Molly paused in her activities to listen to what her teacher had to say. "Today we're going to change things up a bit – I know the last two potions you've brewed have been individual, but today I'd like to give teamwork a try, so everybody's going to be assigned a partner to work with for the duration of the class."

 _A partner?_ Molly gaped and reached for her stool to sit down. Why did she need a partner? She was perfectly capable of brewing a potion on her own – a partner was only going to slow her down.

She could hear her professor calling out the pairs, but she couldn't hear anything. A partner was just going to mess everything up. She had a very specific way she liked things done – how was she supposed to do this if someone was slicing on the right-hand side of the station and dropping the stirring rod on the left? It would be chaos!

"Ooh, bad luck there," Sarah said from the workstation next to Molly's.

"What's bad luck?" Molly asked, not having been paying attention.

"You just got paired with Flora Bailey," Sarah responded.

It couldn't be happening. Of all the people in her class, Molly had gotten paired with _Flora Bailey_? Not only was Flora terrible at potions and a completely ridiculous human being, but ever since her failed attempt at a slumber party, she'd hated Molly something fierce.

When Professor Abbott-Longbottom finished announcing the pairs, everyone started moving around to join with their partners. Since Molly already had her station set up, she motioned for Flora to come join her, but Flora ignored her, instead setting her own cauldron up at her own workstation.

With a sigh of exasperation, Molly dropped the vial she was holding and walked across the room.

"Flora, didn't you see me waving you over?" Molly asked. "I've got everything set up over there."

Flora continued to ignore Molly. With her cauldron in place, she began to set up her other equipment, focused solely on this task.

"Look, you're going to have to talk to me at some point," Molly pointed out. "I mean, at least for the rest of the period. We can't brew a potion together unless we communicate."

"Fine," Flora said, her voice cold. "You should get your things, because we're working here."

Deciding this battle wasn't one worth fighting, Molly resigned herself to the fact that she wasn't going to get her perfectly organized workstation today.

"I'll get the ingredients then?" she asked. When she received no recognition whatsoever that she'd said anything, she shook her head and walked over to the storeroom anyway. She would need billywig stings, wolfsbane, and snake fangs, in addition to standard ingredients which was already at the workstation. She grabbed the three ingredients and hurried back to Flora and their cauldron, where she discovered that Flora had already added the water.

"How much did you put in there?" Molly asked in surprise.

"Don't worry, I put in the right amount," Flora responded, rolling her eyes.

"Okay," Molly nodded slowly. "But how much was that?"

"Gee Molly, if you don't know how much water to add to a wideye potion, then you really shouldn't be here," Flora said.

"I know how much water to add," Molly cried in frustration. "I want to know if you know how much to add."

"Of course I do," Flora scoffed. "Eight cups."

"Did you put in eight cups exactly?" Molly asked.

"Of course I did," Flora frowned. "What, you think I'm an idiot?"

Molly hated this. There was no way of checking of course. Not unless she poured the water out of the cauldron and measured it herself, which she was tempted to do. But they didn't have time for her to double check all of Flora's work. It was terribly difficult though, knowing that her grade depended on Flora measuring the eight cups out exactly. It would have been so easy for Flora to accidentally put in a little more or a little less because she was going too fast.

"Give me those snake fangs to crush," Flora demanded, reaching over the cauldron when Molly hesitated and grabbing them. "You can add the standard ingredient to the water and start heating the potion.

Molly did as instructed, not liking that Flora seemed to think she was in charge. Molly would have to watch her carefully to make sure she didn't skip a step or go too fast or measure something incorrectly. She wasn't about to sacrifice an _Outstanding_ because she'd gotten a bad partner.

Curiously, Molly glanced around the room to see who her friends were paired with. It looked like Sarah was working with Caroline Fletwock – a girl in Hufflepuff who was nice enough but not very bright. Debbie was working with Serena Adams from Slytherin. Molly didn't know Serena very well, but got the impression she at least was competent in classes, if not decent. Finally, Julie was paired with Ethan Carpenter – a fellow Ravenclaw and by far the best partner any of the four had received.

Molly measured out the standard ingredient she needed and then re-measured it, just to be safe.

"You're wasting time," Flora muttered while crushing the snake fangs in her mortar. "Just throw it in."

To Molly's dismay, Flora reached over, grabbed the bowl she'd measured the standard ingredient into and tipped it into their cauldron.

"There," she said, satisfied. "Now get the fire going before I have to do that myself too."

Molly was furious. What if her measurement had been off? Flora hadn't given her the time to double check. If they went on like this, their potion was sure to come out a disaster.

Molly found herself wishing, not for the first time and certainly not for the last, that she was working alone. Or at least that she could have chosen her own partner. Debbie or Sarah or Julie would have made a much better partner than Flora, and at least would have respected her need to double-check her measurements, if not shared them.

"Is it warm enough yet?" Flora asked then. "The snake fangs are ready."

"Hang on," Molly muttered, searching for a thermometer. "I'll take the temperature."

"Oh never mind," Flora grumbled, dumping the snake fangs into the cauldron anyway. "It'll heat up eventually."

"Flora!" Molly cried indignantly. "You can't just – what if it's not hot enough? You can't add the snake fangs until it reaches two hundred and twelve degrees at a _minimum_."

"What's the harm?" Flora shrugged.

"What's the - ?" Molly gaped. "The harm is the potion may not turn out properly now."

"Look, the potion is starting to steam," Flora pointed out. "I'm sure it's fine."

Molly shook her head and ground her teeth. If this didn't kill her, she'd know she was invincible.

"Alright, what's next?" Flora asked.

"Well someone needs to stir," Molly said, recalling the directions. "And someone should start crushing the billywig stings."

"Well I've got the mortar, so I'll do the crushing," Flora declared, reaching for the billywig stings. "Is it seven?"

"Six," Molly corrected.

"Too late, I already measured out seven," Flora muttered, reaching for the pestle.

"Hold on!" Molly cried, grabbing the pestle away from Flora. "First of all, no. It's six billywig stings, not six-ish! And secondly, you didn't wash your mortar or your pestle before adding the next ingredient."

"What does that matter?" Flora demanded. "It's all going into the same place anyway."

Molly groaned. "Do you not understand anything about potions?" she demanded. "Here, take the stirring rod, I'll do the crushing."

Molly handed the rod over to Flora and took the mortar and pestle over to the sink, dumping out the ruined billywig stings into the trash.

"How's it going over there?" Julie asked, joining Molly at the sink with her own mortar and pestle to clean.

"Terrible," Molly replied. "Flora's going to kill me, I just know it. "How did you manage to get the only decent partner?"

Julie shrugged. "Luck of the draw?" she suggested.

"I'd better go back," Molly said reluctantly once her equipment was clean. "Flora might be stirring the wrong direction or something."

Molly returned to the work station and set the mortar and pestle down on the table. Thankfully, Flora was stirring in the right direction, though just a little fast for a wideye potion.

"You might want to slow that down, just a tad," Molly offered.

"Oh, first you criticize my crushing, and now it's my stirring?" Flora demanded. "I'll have you know, I'm perfectly capable of brewing a decent potion. I got E's on both of the ones we've already done."

"Well I got O's," Molly countered. "So there."

Flora made a face. "Look at me, I'm Molly, I'm so smart, I know _everything_ ," she mimicked in a high-pitched voice.

"That's not fair," Molly insisted. "I just want the both of us to get the best mark we can get."

"Just crush the billywigs already," Flora said, turning away from Molly in anger.

Molly sighed and set about crushing. The potion required that the billywig stings be crushed finely, so she kept going a little longer than she normally would and then asked Flora to take the potion's temperature.

"I'm sure it's fine," Flora insisted.

"Well just to be sure," Molly said, holding onto the mortar firmly so that Flora couldn't tip in into the cauldron like last time.

"Whatever," Flora muttered, grabbing the thermometer and dropping it into the cauldron. "I'm going to need a minute," she said when Molly continued to stare.

"Take your time," Molly nodded, trying to look elsewhere, but finding it hard not to keep her eyes on the cauldron.

"Alright, it's above two thirty," Flora said. "You can throw it in."

"Mind if I check?" Molly asked.

Flora stepped away, letting Molly in. Flora was correct, the potion was indeed boiling at a temperature above two thirty.

"Told you," Flora muttered.

"It's always better to have two sets of eyes," Molly replied diplomatically. She added the billywig stings and stirred them in until she couldn't see the powder anymore, and then lowered the heat of the fire underneath. "Let's try to get this simmering around one ninety-five," Molly said then. "Watch the thermometer, I'm going to wash the mortar and pestle again."

Molly took her time at the sink, washing the equipment out carefully since they wouldn't be needed again. When she returned, Flora had the potion simmering and was sitting on a stool staring at the thermometer.

"Can I do anything besides stare?" she asked.

"You can take the unused billywig stings and snake fangs back to the storeroom," Molly offered. "We'll need to hold onto the wolfsbane though."

"Obviously I knew that," Flora muttered, grabbing the two ingredients and disappearing.

With a sigh, Molly gave the potion another stir and checked the thermometer. The temperature was hovering between one ninety-three and one ninety four, so she turned she increased the intensity of the fire just barely, to kick it up to one ninety-five. When Flora came back she sullenly retrieved her herbology notes and started working on her herbology assignment.

"We have time to kill," she said when she saw Molly staring. "Might as well make the most of it."

"I'm just surprised," Molly said.

"What? I may not study as much as you, but I still do my work," Flora replied.

"Of course," Molly nodded.

"Don't you have to do the assignment too?" Flora asked.

"Well I did it already," Molly replied. "But I suppose I could revise my notes. I have some for transfiguration that I wanted to go over.

Not being in the mood to sit with Flora and her judgment and sullenness, Molly chose to remain at her original workstation for a while. After all, their potion was doing fine. It just needed to simmer a while before they added the wolfsbane, and it could simmer just as well with her than without her.

She got out her transfiguration notes and began to read, quickly becoming absorbed in them and forgetting she was even in potions class. Suddenly, there was a cry and Flora called her name.

"What happened?" Molly asked, hurrying over.

"I added the wolfsbane, but it turned green," Flora said, wrinkling her nose. "And it smells awful."

Molly breathed in and then let out a cough as the pungent smell reached her nose. "Flora," Molly said slowly. "Did you dilute it first?"

"Did I do what?" Flora frowned.

"Did you dilute it?" Molly repeated. "Wolfsbane can't go into a wideye potion without first soaking in water. The water soaks up some of the unnecessary parts, leaving only the essential behind."

"I didn't – I must've forgotten – "

"Why were you even adding it without me?" Molly demanded.

"Well you seemed rather busy," Flora replied. "And it was ready, the temperature was right. I didn't want to wait and then regret it if it over-simmered."

"You should have called me before you added it," Molly said, sadly looking down at their pathetic potion. "What are we supposed do to now?"

"We could finish it?" Flora suggested. "It needs to be stirred counter-clockwise for three minutes on a high heat and then it's finished."

"Do it if you want to," Molly muttered. "But there's no point. It's ruined now."

Furious, Molly stomped back to her own table, packed her things away in her bag, and left the room even though class wasn't finished. It hardly mattered. Their potion would get a P at best – or a T at worst. Either way, it was a fail. And it was all Flora's fault.

MmMmMmMmMmM

"Come on," Debbie said encouragingly later that evening. "It's not so bad. It's not like it was the final exam."

"Did you smell it?" Molly asked. "It was horrid. The worst color of green imaginable. What was Flora thinking?"

"Why were you so far away?" Julie questioned."

"I was revising my transfiguration notes," Molly replied. "The potion was simmering, it was fine. If Flora hadn't tried to finish it without me…"

"I'm just saying, if it were me, I wouldn't have let the potion out of my sight for a second. Especially not if Flora Bailey was the one watching it," Julie said.

"Don't put this on me," Molly cried. "This wasn't my fault!"

"Are you sure about that?" Julie asked.

MmMmMmMmMmM

In potions the following day, everyone received their grades on their potions. Molly and Flora received a D for _dreadful_. It was the worst grade Molly had ever received. Her father would be furious. And disappointed. How would she explain this? Julie was right. It was her own fault for leaving her potion alone with Flora for so long.

MmMmMmMmMmM

"Stop moping around," Sarah cried a few days later. The girls were in their study room, but Molly was doing anything but study. She just stared at the directions for the wideye potion, as if they would change or something.

"I'm trying to see if we did anything else wrong," Molly said. "Besides not diluting the wolfsbane. There's so many steps where it could have gone wrong. Flora added the water – who knows how much went in there. And she didn't let me double-check my measurement of standard ingredient. And she definitely stirred too fast the whole time, and the temperature might have been a little on the low side for a while too.

"You've got to stop this Molly," Debbie insisted. "It is what it is, the potion was a disaster, now move on and do better next time."

"I was going to be top of my class," Molly said, recalling her attitude back in September, when she'd boarded the train. "I was going to be the smartest, get the best grades. I was going to be the one that soared above all the rest."

"Well you do," Sarah assured her. "You're an amazing student, and your grades are incredible."

"But I'm not _the_ best," Molly said. "Maybe in one or two classes, but certainly not in all of them. No matter what I do, I can't seem to get over that hurdle. It's like I have all this potential to be the best, but I can't find it.

"Molly, stop talking right now," Julie ordered. "You are smart, and you are talented, and you are wasting it sitting around thinking about what could have been. Get your notes and start revising. Get your textbooks and start reading. For Merlin's sake do something besides moan. So maybe I'm better than you in some classes, and Debbie's better in some classes, and Sarah's best in others. So what? Be the best at what you can, and do your best everywhere else. You're never going to beat us unless you try, so try!"

Molly sighed. Julie was right. "I guess I'd better," she agreed, closing her potions textbook and pulling her history textbook closer. "You guys better watch out, because I'm about to make a comeback."


	9. May Year 1

_Year 1: Outstanding_

Chapter 9: May 2015

Over the next few weeks, Molly did nothing but study. Of course, this wasn't entirely out of the ordinary for Molly, so at first her friends didn't notice anything amiss. When Molly stopped going to the Great Hall for meals though, they started to get worried.

"Molly, you at least need to eat," Debbie insisted.

"I'm not hungry," Molly muttered, scribbling furiously in the margins of her notes.

"You didn't come to breakfast or lunch," Sarah pointed out. "You really should come to dinner."

"I'll grab something before curfew," Molly assured them. "On my way back to the common room. I have to swing by the library anyway, so it won't be too big of a detour."

"Molly, you're starving yourself!" Julie exclaimed.

"I am not," Molly frowned, irritated at the prolonged distraction. "I got a spot of breakfast before any of you were awake, and I grabbed some extra toast and put it in my bag and ate it for lunch. I fully intend to eat something before it gets recalled to the kitchen, I just _don't have the time right now!_ "

Raising their hands in surrender, her friends backed away, leaving Molly alone in the study room.

Shaking her head in an attempt to clear it, Molly went back to what she was working on. It was imperative that she utilize every spare second to her advantage now. The end of term was coming, and with it exams. She'd thought that because of her rigorous study schedule throughout the year, she wouldn't have to worry so much now. However, if her Jelly-Legs Jinx situation and the wideye potion debacle were any indication, Molly was going to need to really concentrate on her studies from now until exam time.

Thankfully, the first year exams were all theoretical. It no longer mattered whether she could cast a spell, care for a plant, brew a potion, or use a telescope. All that mattered was that she understood what was on paper, and could articulate it in an exam question. It was a small relief, though Molly also knew that her practical skills would still be needed next year, and so they couldn't be neglected altogether. She would have plenty of time after the exams finished though, to make sure they remained up to par.

Molly's system wasn't working though. She flew back and forth between the different subjects in a completely random fashion and studied whatever part of the subject was at the top of the pile of notes that she grabbed. She knew she needed to organize herself, but she was torn. It would mean losing time studying, after all. But things had gotten to the point where she had little choice, unless she wanted to show up to the exams with only a piecemeal knowledge of the material.

Pushing aside her herbology notes, Molly got out a fresh sheet of parchment and mentally counted down the days until her last exam. It was currently a Wednesday… and exams started in two and a half weeks. Then they would last exactly two weeks, ending on the Thursday of the second week. She drew out a timetable for four weeks and a day, numbering each of the days carefully.

She started at the end. She had a transfiguration exam on the final Thursday, so she would want to study transfiguration that morning and the night before. That would be general last-minute studying though. And since she had her defence exam the day before on Wednesday, she marked in that she would study general defence that morning and the Tuesday night prior. On the Tuesday, she had her Herbology exam, so she wrote in that she'd study Herbology that day and the day before, on which she had no exam.

Next she scheduled herself to study transfiguration the whole day on the final Sunday, and defence the whole day on the final Saturday. If she was getting a full uninterrupted day of Herbology study, she wanted to be fair with her other classes.

Then she looked at the first week of exams. Her charms exam was first on Monday, so she would study charms that morning and the Sunday before. Potions was on Tuesday, so she marked it in for the usual morning of and night before, as well as the Saturday before. On Wednesday she had no exam, so she decided she would study for Thursday's history of magic exam Wednesday and Thursday morning, and then Thursday night and Friday would be devoted to Friday night's astronomy exam.

That left sixteen days of study, not including today. Molly frowned, wondering what the best course of action would be. Obviously she should focus more on the newer material, because she'd had less time with it. But that didn't mean she could neglect the old material.

Molly decided to take the next four days to review everything from the first term. Tomorrow would be transfiguration, with herbology on Friday. Saturday would be for charms, defence, and history, and then Sunday would be for potions, astronomy, and a general review of the first term. Starting on Monday, Molly would study material from January and February in transfiguration and herbology. Tuesday would be the same in charms and history. Wednesday would follow suit in defence and potions. By Thursday, she should be finishing with the January and February material in astronomy and moving onto the March and April material for transfiguration.

It was best alternating between subjects, Molly decided. If she took two days straight to study one subject, she would probably go insane. Not to mention she'd be likely to forget everything from the first subject she chose to study by the end of the study period and that would be no use. No, she had to stay current in each of her subjects.

When she finished sketching out when to study the March and April material, she added in May. She would give a little extra time for each subject to study material from May, because it was the newest, and some of it she was only still learning. She'd want to make sure to digest it all fully. The final Friday before she started general exam review would be devoted to all her subjects and making sure she had everything straight in her mind.

Taking a step back, Molly looked over her study schedule. It was concise enough and appeared to be well-organized. It was a little hard to read though, so Molly decided to color-code it. After all, her schedule only started tomorrow, so she could waste a little time today with a fun activity.

The question now became what color to assign to each class. She thought potions deserved a darker color, because it took place in the dungeons. Besides black, her darkest color was purple, so she filled in her potions days with some purple. She carried on in similar fashion until the whole schedule gleamed at her colorfully.

"What's that?" Debbie asked, causing Molly to jump in surprise.

"Study schedule," Molly replied as her friends returned from dinner.

"Let's see then," Julie said grabbing it from Molly's hands. "Hmm…"

Molly felt herself get nervous. She'd just spent close to an hour on this. If Julie hated it – would she have to start all over?

"It's certainly interesting," Julie finally said. "But take a look at mine."

Molly took the offered sheet of parchment and began to take it in. Julie's was also color-coded, but differently than her own. Potions had been designated the color yellow, which just seemed strange. Transfiguration was green instead of red. The only color that was consistent was charms, which was blue in both Molly's and Julie's timetables.

"What do you think?" Julie asked, reminding Molly that she wasn't simply meant to be looking at colors.

"Well…" Molly said slowly. "I noticed you've left the evenings of exam days blank."

Julie nodded. "To rest," she explained. "We can do last-minute studying in the mornings, but the night before we should get to sleep early so that our minds are sharp and alert for the test.

"Makes sense…" Molly muttered, looking over the rest. Basically, the pattern was that every day, two subjects were studied in an alternating pattern. Not much thought required in making it, but a sound strategy. "You realize that on weekends you'll have more time for studying," Molly pointed out. "But since you've only put as many subjects as any other day, aren't you going to end up with a heavier focus on them?"

Julie shook her head. "Weekends are also for regular weekly assignments," she explained.

Of course! Molly shook her head. She'd forgotten that the teachers were still assigning homework even though it was the end of term. In fact, Professor Binns' big end-of-term paper was only due in two weeks, though Molly had finished her own ages ago.

"That makes sense," Molly nodded. "But I notice that history and transfiguration are both scheduled to be studied one day more than the other classes. Why is that?"

"Well we started studying off this timetable at the beginning of the month," Julie replied. "It was even starting from there."

"Oh," Molly nodded. This made sense. "Wait, we?"

"Yeah, we compiled the timetable together," Debbie nodded. "We're all on the same schedule."

"Why didn't you include me in this?" Molly frowned.

"We tried," Julie replied. "You were too busy studying like a crazy person and skipping meals."

"Oh," Molly said, blushing slightly. "Right. I guess I did get a little carried away."

"Well anyway," Julie said, grabbing her own study schedule back. "It's up to you how you want to study. But just so you know, I think your way is a little over-complicated."

"Thanks for the advice," Molly replied. "But I think I will stick with mine. I don't want to start your right in the middle. I might end up missing something. It'll be better just to start fresh with mine. Maybe next year though, we can all follow a single schedule."

Her friends nodded in understanding and then took their seats. After all, there was still time before curfew, and they needed to utilize all the time available to their advantages. Sarah, Debbie, and Julie all got out their defence notes and immediately got to work. Meanwhile, Molly collected all her notes and started putting them back in order – they'd gotten significantly mixed up over the past few weeks of crazy frantic studying. It would be good to start fresh in the morning.

There was a knock at the window and curiously, Molly got up and walked over to see what was going on. She opened the window and in flew an owl, who went right to the middle of their square of desks and landed.

"Who's owl is this?" Molly asked her friends.

They all shrugged, unsure.

"Well who's the letter for?" Molly wondered.

"I'll check," Julie said, reaching over and untying the letter from the owl's leg. Once it was free, the owl hooted happily and flew back out the window, which Molly decided to leave open. The fresh air was nice, after all.

"So, who's it for?" Debbie prompted when Julie simply stared at the envelope.

"All of us," Julie said. "It's from the Headmaster."

"Well open it up and read it," Molly said, simultaneously wondering why the Headmaster was sending them a letter at all.

Julie did as instructed, tearing into the envelope and smoothing out the letter on her desk. "Should I read it aloud?" she asked.

"Yes please," Sarah nodded.

Julie cleared her throat and then began.

 _To first year students Debbie Alderton, Julie Belcher, Sarah Radford, and Molly Weasley,_

 _As per our discussion in October, you have been allowed to maintain the use of an abandoned fifth-floor classroom for studying purposes throughout the duration of the school year. However, the year will soon be over and new arrangements must be made. Kindly join me in my office following your last class tomorrow afternoon so that we may discuss possibilities._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Silas Slinkhard_

The girls remained silent for a moment when Julie finished reading.

"What do you think he's going to say?" Molly finally asked, breaking the silence.

"Perhaps they've finally come up with an alternative solution," Sarah suggested. "When we spoke to him in October, he did say he would look into the issue."

"But it doesn't sound like he's come up with any ideas at all!" Debbie said. "He wants to discuss 'new arrangements' with us – look into different 'possibilities'. That doesn't sound promising."

"I'm sure he'll let us keep the room at least through exams," Julie said reassuringly. "He wouldn't add to the stress of studying by making us give up our study space."

"I hope you're right," Molly said, unconvinced.

MmMmMmMmMmM

The next day, after their last class, the four girls nervously made their way to Professor Slinkhard's office. When they reached the stone gargoyle, they announced their names, claiming that the Headmaster was expecting them, and waited for the stairs to appear for them.

"Ah girls, excellent, please come in," Headmaster Slinkhard said when they knocked at the door. "Take a seat," he instructed.

Curious and nervous, Molly followed her friends inside and took a tentative seat in one of the chairs across from the Headmaster.

"Now, I'm sure you're all wondering what you're doing here," Headmaster Slinkhard said.

"Aren't we here to talk about our study room?" Julie asked.

"Yes, in fact we are," the Headmaster replied. "Professor Longbottom has been thinking about the predicament that led you to create such a space and after consultation, first with myself and the other Heads of House, and then with the rest of the staff, has come to a decision."

"And what is that?" Julie wondered.

"As of next year, Hogwarts is going to have an inter-house lounge, where students from different houses can spend time together outside of the Great Hall or the library," the Headmaster replied.

Molly frowned. It had taken seven months to come up with that?

"Therefore," the Headmaster continued. "Your own personal lounge will no longer be necessary, as the new lounge will allow you to socialize together."

"I'm sorry Professor…" Julie said slowly, trying to figure out the exact words she wanted to use. "It's just that… our problem wasn't only that there was nowhere for members of different houses to mingle. It was also that there was nowhere quiet to do our studying, because the library is so chaotic."

"Well this solves that problem as well!" Headmaster Slinkhard said. "With the new lounge open for socialization, the library can go back to being a place of quiet, where you can indeed get your work done free of the distraction of bored students."

"I see," Julie nodded.

"Since the new lounge won't be open for use until September, you may keep your study room until the end of exams," the Headmaster generously allowed. "However, I would like you to have everything back to the way it was before boarding the train home. I won't have you leaving it for Mr. Filch and Mr. Clarke to clean up for you."

"Of course not Headmaster," Julie nodded. "Thank you so much Headmaster. If you don't mind, we'll go and study now."

"Absolutely," Headmaster Slinkhard said, standing up. "Best be ready for those exams, hadn't we?"

"Indeed," Julie nodded, making a face at Molly as they turned and headed for the door.

As soon as they were back in the main corridor, Sarah let out a loud groan.

"This is a disaster!" she cried. "No way is this lounge idea going to make any difference."

"Agreed," Debbie nodded. "Julie, why didn't you say anything?"

"Why didn't I say anything?" Julie frowned.

"Well you were the one doing all the talking," Sarah nodded.

"I wasn't about to tell the Headmaster his plan was terrible!" Julie cried. "He seemed to think it was ingenius."

"But now we have to give up our room," Molly sighed.

"Not until then end of exams," Julie pointed out. "Then we have the whole summer to figure out what we're going to do next year."

"The library's still going to be utter chaos," Debbie muttered.

"Maybe we can talk to Madam Maxwell," Sarah suggested. "We could ask if the library could be divided – silent study on one side and quiet study on the other."

"It'll never get properly enforced," Julie shook her head. "She's only one lady. She can't control hundreds of students at once, which is how full the library can get at times."

"We'll just have to come up with something," Molly said. "We've got three months. It shouldn't be too difficult."

They returned to their study room and Molly immediately took out her transfiguration notes while her friends got started on herbology. It was silent for a while until Debbie suddenly broke the silence.

"Maybe we just wait for September and then show Headmaster Slinkhard that the library is as bad as it's always been, and then he'll let us have the study space back," she said.

"Or maybe we just take our study space back without permission from anyone," Sarah offered. "It's basically what we did this year, and that turned out pretty well."

"Guys, this really isn't a conversation we need to be having now," Julie cried. "We have to focus on exams. All of this can wait."

"You're right," Debbie agreed. "Of course. Grades first."

MmMmMmMmMmM

"How do you feel?" Sarah asked a few days later as she and Molly returned to Gryffindor Tower. "About the exams? Do you think you're ready?"

"Not yet, but I will be," Molly assured her friend. She'd finished reviewing the material from the first term and felt quite confident about it. Of course, it was easier than the material from second term, but it was still worth noting. Now she had four weeks to make sure that she'd internalized all of the second term and she'd be good to go. "What about you?"

"Yeah, I feel good," Sarah nodded. "Not so much for potions."

"But you're great at potions!" Molly exclaimed.

"Just because I brewed all my potions well doesn't mean I have the theory down," Sarah pointed out. "It's just that there's so many ingredients and they all have different properties and uses. It's a lot to remember."

"But that's the best part of potions," Molly said. "Memorizing the properties and uses of all the different ingredients."

"But aren't you afraid of mixing them up?" Sarah asked.

"Not really," Molly shrugged. "I mean, it'd be pretty hard to get confused between lethe river water and horklump juice."

"I wish we could just brew a potion for our exam, like the second years," Sarah sighed. "I could never mix up _actual_ lethe river water with horklump juice. Because horklump juice smells awful. But on paper, I might mix up which potions they go into or something."

"I'd be more afraid of an exam where I had to brew a potion," Molly disagreed. "I mean, just think. One mistake and the whole thing blows up in smoke. That's all it took with the wideye potion and we got a D."

"Professor Abbott-Longbottom wouldn't give you a D on your exam for one mistake," Sarah shook her head. "You probably got the D because there were multiple mistakes."

"Well if there were, they were all Flora's fault," Molly muttered.

"Or maybe you got the D because you failed at working in a team," Sarah mused. "Maybe that was part of the assignment."

"We worked together!" Molly cried.

"You were sitting at different workstations," Sarah pointed out. "And that's the only reason the potion was a failure."

"Good point," Molly nodded. She shook her head to keep from dwelling on it. "Well anyway, I'm sure exams are going to go fine. At least they're individual. I don't have to worry about anyone but myself and my own knowledge."


	10. June Year 1

_Year 1: Outstanding_

Chapter 10: June 2015

After weeks of studying, it was finally time for Molly to sit her first exam. Monday was Charms, and it was in the afternoon, so she and her friends spent the morning in their study room passing charms notes back and forth.

At lunch, everyone was eerily quiet – not just the first years, but the whole school. It gave Molly goosebumps to listen to. If only the library could be this quiet year-round, there would be no problems.

After lunch, the first years made their way to the Charms classroom and waited outside until Professor Flitwick was ready for them. Though the anticipation was killing Molly, she reveled in this time. It was like the moment before opening a present. When it's sitting there in your lap, all wrapped up with a bow, waiting to have the lid pulled off or the paper ripped to shreds. It's a time where anything is possible.

Professor Flitwick poked his head out the door and beckoned them all inside. Along with the rest of the class, Molly was instructed to take her inkwell and a few quills out of her bag and then to leave it along the front wall of the class. This way, nobody would be able to cheat. For O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s, students were given quills spelled with anti-cheating spells, but for regular exams things were far less strict.

The room had been rearranged in preparation for the exams. Normally, the desks were pushed together so that they were touching, and they were arranged in a u-shape around the room. Today, they had been pulled apart and placed into neat rows, all facing forward in an orderly fashion. It gave Molly chills to see.

Molly chose a desk in the front. She didn't want to be able to see the rest of the class while she wrote her exam, or she might get distracted. The exams were laying facedown on the desks, and Professor Flitwick informed them that if they turned them over before he said, they would receive an automatic T and be asked to leave the room.

"Make sure to write your name on each sheet of parchment," Professor Flitwick instructed. "In case one gets misplaced, so that I'll know it's part of your exam. You have two hours to complete the exam. I will not be answering questions about content, but if you have a question about the wording of a question, you may raise your hand. You may begin."

Excitedly, Molly turned over the exam and immediately wrote her name at the top of the first sheet. She scanned the first page and then went to the next, scanning it also while she wrote in her name. She did this for all the pages – there were nine in total – before flipping back to the first page to start.

The first question was easy – it was about how to properly hold one's wand. Molly answered it with ease and then moved onto the next question. As she made her way through the exam, she realized that there was a certain orderliness to it. All the material from the year was covered in the order which they had learned it. And the questions were very straightforward, not at all the trick questions she was expecting from the horror stories she had heard.

She finished with an hour to spare and raised her hand to ask what she should do.

"Well if you're certain you're finished," Professor Flitwick said. "Then you're free to go."

Molly knew her answers were right, and didn't feel the need to look them over like Professor Flitwick suggested, so she handed in her exam and left. She was the first person out of the room and felt proud that she'd beaten all her friends in finishing it.

As she emerged into the corridor, she wondered what she should do now. Julie had said that it was bad to study the night before, because she should get a good night's sleep, but it was the middle of the afternoon. Molly decided that it couldn't hurt to study a bit of potions – it was a morning exam after all, so she wouldn't have much time to study tomorrow morning.

As Molly made her way up to the fifth floor, she found herself feeling kind of disappointed. The charms exam had been fun, but it had been over so fast she'd barely had time to enjoy it. Maybe next time she should go slower, to savor the experience. If only it had been more difficult, maybe she could have stuck around longer. Then again, a more difficult exam might not have proved quite as fun.

Sarah was the next to join Molly in the study room, taking up her potions notes as well to go over them quickly. Feeling like she was going to burst, Molly attempted to discuss the charms exam with Sarah, but Sarah only shut her down, insisting that it was over and that they needed to focus on potions now.

Soon Debbie and Julie arrived, having stayed in the exam the full two hours. Julie explained that she'd finished in an hour, but had felt uncomfortable leaving early and instead had read over her answers in case anything seemed amiss, or else if there was a grammatical error or something. Molly noted that this sounded like a good idea – it would be far too easy to make a grammatical error in her haste to complete the exam.

The next day was their potions exam. After breakfast, the first years trooped down to the dungeons, where Professor Abbott-Longbottom had them line up along the wall and enter the room in single file. Molly placed her bag at the front of the room again as instructed and sat down at a workstation at the front of the class. The room hadn't needed to be reorganized like Professor Flitwick's, but Molly could still feel the difference from potions classroom to examination room.

Professor Abbott-Longbottom did things a little differently than Professor Flitwick. She hadn't placed the exams on their desks before they cam in, but instead passed them out once everyone was seated.

"Should we place them facedown?" Molly asked, raising her hand unnecessarily. "So that we can't cheat and read the first question before we start?"

"No, it's fine," Professor Abbott-Longbottom said. "Just don't open the exams until I say you can."

With a shrug, Molly figured it couldn't hurt to start writing her name on the front page – it would save her time later on.

"Hey!" Tim Hall cried from the workstation behind Molly. "Molly's starting the exam!"

"I am not," Molly shot back. "I'm just writing my name."

"No talking!" Professor Abbott-Longbottom reminded them. "This is an exam and the exams have been circulated."

Molly silently cursed Tim for making her speak out of turn.

The potions exam also lasted two hours. Molly finished after about an hour and a quarter, and then began looking back over her answers for grammatical errors. She had finished this in under twenty minutes and then found herself fidgeting uncomfortably. She didn't like sitting here with nothing to do, and her exam was finished and even double-checked. So she handed in her exam and returned to the study room to start looking over history of magic notes.

There was no exam the next day, which gave the students a full day of study. Though Molly was scheduled to only study history all day, she found herself getting bored about halfway through and allowed herself to look over her astronomy notes as well.

By Thursday, Molly was confident in her ability to ace her history of magic exam and knew exactly what to expect.

Similar to Professor Flitwick, Professor Binns already had the exams placed facedown on their desks when they walked in. He didn't ask them to put their bags at the front of the classroom, which Molly found odd. What if someone had snuck their notes into the exam? It would be much easier to read them secretively under their desk than to read them from across the room while they were tucked away in their bag.

Molly thought about pointing this out, but didn't. When she'd spoken up in potions, Professor Abbott-Longbottom hadn't seemed to care. Molly figured the Professors had their various systems and were determined to stick to them. Professor Binns surely had had his system in place for many years by now and would not take kindly to having new suggestions thrown his way.

Just so that she herself couldn't be accused of cheating, Molly put her bag under her chair, where she wouldn't be able to reach it during the exam without considerable effort. Some people had their bags next to them on the floor, and Molly could only hope that Professor Binns was going to keep his eyeB on these ones.

The history of magic exam was the easiest yet. Molly finished it in forty-five minutes, and by the hour mark was ready to hand it in and go study astronomy. The next evening was the astronomy exam, which also went by without incident. Following this, Molly had three full days to focus on her last three subjects before her final exams.

Before she knew it, Molly had handed in her transfiguration exam and was walking out the door. Automatically, she'd started walking towards the study room, but then she realized there was no need. There was nothing left to study. This realization was of course followed by the realization that there was always something to study, and Molly hurried upstairs to get her notes back in order for pre-second year revision.

When the rest of her friends had finished their exams and joined her in the study room, they all agreed that it was time to start putting the room right again. With a sigh, Molly packed away her things, having to make two trips to Gryffindor Tower to clear them out of the room, and then started to drag away the furniture.

"This is so sad," Molly lamented as she dragged the broken furniture back across the hall from the classroom they'd temporarily stored it in. "I feel like we're saying goodbye forever, even though we're coming back in two months."

"We might be saying goodbye to this room forever though," Debbie pointed out.

"True," Molly agreed.

They got all the furniture back to where it originally came from, and then stood in the doorway of the classroom nostalgically.

"We did a lot of studying in here," Sarah said.

"We sure did," Julie agreed.

"It was a good year," Molly added.

MmMmMmMmMmM

By the end of the following week, their grades were ready to be picked up from their Heads of House. Molly was exceptionally nervous. If she got anything but straight O's, she didn't know what she was going to do, let alone tell her parents. So it was a relief when she received her grades and saw that she had O's in all seven classes. She checked with Sarah, Debbie, and Julie and discovered that all three of them had received straight O's as well – according to Professor Longbottom, not something that happened often.

Though she was sad to leave Hogwarts, Molly was very happy to be leaving her roommates behind. Though her sister was arguably as annoying as Flora, Eliza, and Amber, at least she didn't share a room with Lucy.

"I'm going to get my second year books as soon as the booklists are sent out," Julie said one afternoon. "I want to know as much as I can before September first."

"I'm going to see if I can borrow my cousin's notes," Molly volunteered. "She's not the brightest, but at least I'll be able to get an idea of what's to come."

"I'm especially excited to start using proper star charts next year," Debbie said. "It'll be so much more precise than those sky maps we worked with this year."

"I heard that in second year, Professor Binns spends the whole year teaching about wizarding politics since the beginning of wizardkind," Sarah said. "How fun will that be?"

"I just want to learn some new spells," Julie said. "I hate that the older students can do so much more than we can."

"What about you Molly?" Debbie asked. "What are you most looking forward to?"

"All of it," Molly replied with a smile.

MmMmMmMmMmM

Soon it was the day they were leaving Hogwarts, and Molly and her friends were gathered in a compartment on the train, watching as Hogwarts got smaller and smaller in the distance.

"Well what do we do now?" Sarah asked, looking around aimlessly. "We're here the whole day."

"We might as well start on our summer homework," Julie said, reaching for her trunk to locate what she would need. "I'm going to start with herbology."

"I think I'll start with transfiguration," Molly decided, searching for the assignment in her own trunk.

"I'm going to start with transfiguration too," Debbie agreed.

"I think I want to get history out of the way first," Sarah declared. "It's going to take forever."

The girls settled in contentedly. Their compartment was almost as good as their study room. It was quiet, private… the only problem was that they were also moving, and so every few words that Molly wrote, she smudged some of it.

"I'm going to have to recopy this when I get home," Molly muttered to herself.

"Same," Julie agreed. "But at least we're doing something."

MmMmMmMmMmM

They arrived at King's Cross station in the afternoon, and the four girls made their way down to the platform with their trunks to locate their parents.

"I see mine," Molly said, waving to her mother so that she would know she'd located them. "I guess I'll see you guys in September."

There was no need for long heartfelt goodbyes like many of the other students were having. It was only going to be two months apart – and they could always write if they felt compelled to. Molly saw no reason to be emotional, so she simply said goodbye to her friends and joined her family.

"How were your exams?" Percy said by way of greeting when Molly walked up.

"Straight O's," Molly smiled proudly.

"That's my girl," Percy smiled, patting Molly on the back.

"Come on honey," Audrey said, taking Molly's trunk from her and leading her towards the barrier to the Muggle world. "Let's go home."


	11. September Year 2

_Year 2: Open Your Mind_

Chapter 11: September 2015

September couldn't have come faster. Molly couldn't wait to get back to Hogwarts. Finally, she could start attending classes again, and she wouldn't have to listen to her little sister's whining anymore. It wasn't Molly's fault she was older than Lucy. Lucy would just have to wait another year. Molly couldn't understand Lucy's desire to start school already. Lucy hated the idea of learning and studying, and yet all she wanted was to go to Hogwarts. She should be enjoying this last year. It didn't make any sense.

Molly had insisted that her mother and sister stay home that morning instead of seeing Molly off to school. There was no need for heartfelt goodbyes at the train station – goodbyes could be just as heartfelt at home. Though her mother had protested at first, her father had calmed her down and assured her that he was perfectly capable of seeing his daughter to the train station.

"Well, have a good term," Percy said, hovering by the train door, which Molly was itching to enter. "I suppose I'll see you at Christmas."

"Is there no way I can stay at Hogwarts over the holidays?" Molly begged.

"No," her father shook his head. "No, your mother would kill me if I let you do that."

Molly sighed heavily. "Fine," she muttered. "I suppose I'll make it work."

"You ought to be more excited to see your family," Percy frowned.

"Not when it prevents me from studying," Molly said. "Anyway, I should get on the train and get settled before it starts moving."

"Of course," Percy nodded, waving for Molly to get on the train. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye," Molly returned, grabbing her trunk and wheeling it down the hallway without a second glance. This is what she liked about her father. There were no unnecessary emotions with him. It was so ridiculous, how so many people got so emotional when their children left for school. As if they'd never see them again!

Molly made her way towards the middle of the train where she and her friends had agreed to meet. It didn't take long before she spotted Julie and Sarah, sitting across from each other in a compartment, each absorbed in one of their brand new second-year textbooks.

"What have you got there?" Molly asked, dragging her trunk inside and removing a textbook of her own before shoving it under her seat.

"Transfiguration," Julie said, showing Molly the cover. "The theory this year is so much more complicated than last year, I still don't think I've grasped it. Hopefully I'll sort it out today though."

"I've got Herbology," Sarah volunteered, gesturing to her own textbook. "There's so many new plants in here, I'm having trouble remembering all their names."

"Maybe it'll be easier once we have the plants in front of us," Molly suggested.

"Probably," Sarah agreed. "But I'd like to have them organized in my mind before that happens."

"What about you Molly?" Julie asked. "What are you working on?"

"History of Magic," Molly replied. "I've read it twice so far, and I've got the chronology, but I'm having trouble with the dates. It might just be a matter of making some flash cards for myself, so I've brought some smaller pieces of parchment with me in case I decide to do that."

"And where's Debbie do you think?" Sarah wondered.

"I'm here!" Debbie exclaimed, bursting into the compartment, looking a little disheveled. "Sorry, my sister was being ridiculously slow this morning and took forever in the shower! We only just made it on time."

"You have a sister?" Molly frowned. She hadn't realized that. "Older or younger."

"Older," Debbie replied. "And an older brother as well."

"You learn something new every day," Julie said. "What subject are you going to work on today Debbie?"

"Definitely charms," Debbie said. "I've been trying out the new wand movements – without a wand of course, just to get the feeling of them in my wrist.

MmMmMmMmMmM

The rest of the train ride went smoothly as the four girls studied their respectively chosen subjects, with occasional interspersed chatter to break up the day. They arrived at Hogwarts without incident and retired to their dorms as soon as they could, eager to get a good night's rest before classes the next day.

Molly slept fitfully that night, dreaming that her first day of second year was a disaster – she didn't understand anything her Professors were saying and couldn't perform any spells, including those she'd learned in first year. Everyone laughed at her and then Headmaster Slinkhard told her it would be better if she took first year over again. It was humiliating.

When Molly awoke, she reminded herself that she was smart, that she'd read all the textbooks at least twice, and that there was no way she would have to retake her first year. They would have told her much sooner, after all, and made her go to summer school. As it was, she'd gotten O's in all her classes last year. She had nothing to worry about.

At breakfast, Molly waited eagerly for Professor Longbottom to come around with her schedule. She and Sarah had sat separately from Debbie and Julie this morning, since it was important to be at their own house tables when the Professors came around with timetables.

As soon as she received it, Molly began to study her schedule intently. Astronomy had been moved to Wednesday nights instead of Thursdays, she noticed. That was fine, though she wondered how tired she would be for classes by Friday morning. She still had all her other classes for the same amount of time as she had last year, though they'd been moved around. Molly was dismayed to see that the classes weren't as well distributed this year – she had defence Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and then not at all for the next four days. She would have to make sure to study a bit of defence each weekend so as to keep it fresh in her mind.

As it was a Wednesday, the second years had history of magic first, followed by defence, and then charms and potions in the afternoon. They would also be having their first astronomy class that night, and Molly was immediately glad she'd gone to bed so early the previous night.

Being back in class was glorious. In first period, Molly was absolutely thrilled when Professor Binns drifted into class through the chalkboard just like every other day and immediately jumped into his lecture. By the end of the day though, Molly was dismayed. Every one of her Professors had decided to start the year off with review of the previous year. Molly hadn't learned anything new all day! She could only hope Professor Brunwell would have the good sense to show them a star chart or something, or else she was going to go crazy.

When their last class was over, Molly and her friends debated where to go to get started on their homework. As promised, Headmaster Slinkhard had opened an inter-house lounge on the third floor where students of all ages and from all houses could spend free time together. The girls new this would be a terrible place to study though, and instead decided to try the library.

The library, though worth trying, was a disaster. Madam Maxwell had her hands full running after students who had overdue books from the year before and had no time to police the volume in the library. There were barely any students there either – just a smattering of sixth and seventh year N.E.W.T. students and a particularly boisterous group of third years. That was all it took though, for Molly and her friends to realize that the library was no different than last year and as such, completely unsuitable.

"What are we going to do?" Sarah wondered.

"Did anyone come up with any alternative ideas over the summer?" Julie asked.

"I say we just put our study room back and deal with Headmaster Slinkhard later," Debbie volunteered that. "We'll tell him we tried the inter-house lounge, and we tried the library, but that there's simply nothing for it."

"Is there no other option?" Molly asked, not exactly thrilled with the thought of defying their Headmaster.

"Not unless you want to spend the year studying with your hands over your ears," Sarah said.

So the girls were agreed. They immediately headed to the fifth floor to reclaim their study space, only to find themselves face-to-face with Professor Longbottom.

"Headmaster Slinkhard had a feeling you girls would head up here this afternoon," Professor Longbottom said.

"We – we were just – " Molly stammered.

"I know exactly what you were doing," Professor Longbottom replied. "The inter-house lounge did nothing to assuage the volume levels in the library and you've come to reclaim your study space."

"We didn't mean to – It's just that – " Debbie began.

"If you girls wouldn't mind coming with me," Professor Longbottom said. "Headmaster Slinkhard is expecting us."

Molly felt like a child who'd been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Heads bowed, the girls followed their Deputy Headmaster up to Headmaster Slinkhard's office, following him inside reluctantly and taking seats in the chairs offered.

"I was expecting you an hour ago," the Headmaster commented. "Where did you go after last period?"

"We went to the library," Julie replied. "We at least wanted to try it out before going back to the fifth floor."

"I see," Headmaster Slinkhard nodded. "And can I assume that it was not to your satisfaction?"

"The library isn't the problem," Julie said. "It's the students. They don't appreciate a silent study space the way we do."

"I see," the Headmaster said with a sigh. "I had hoped – but I suppose students will be students."

"Perhaps… if Madam Maxwell had help in the library…" Sarah spoke up.

"We don't have the funds for a second librarian," Headmaster Slinkhard shook his head. "Besides, two librarians would hardly be any better than one. There are far too many students at this school to be controlled in that way. Perhaps… if we expanded the inter-house lounge…"

"There are always going to be students in the library," Julie said. "No matter how big you make your lounge. I honestly don't think that's the answer."

"And your solution would be what?" Headmaster Slinkhard demanded. "For me to allow you to take control of a classroom for another year? How long before all the students are asking for them?"

"We wouldn't tell anyone," Julie assured him. "You didn't have any problems last year, did you?"

"No," Headmaster Slinkhard allowed. "No, I suppose I didn't."

"Because we were discreet," Julie said. "We kept to ourselves. Nobody had to know about it then, and nobody has to know about it now."

"I suppose as long as you can remain discreet about it…" Headmaster Slinkhard said slowly. "You are all excellent students, and I would hate to compromise that."

"So we can keep it?" Debbie asked, excitedly.

"For one more year," Headmaster Slinkhard determined. "During which time, Professor Longbottom and I will come up with an alternative solution."

"Thank you, Headmaster," Julie said graciously, standing up and shaking his hand. "We are much obliged."

Once the girls were back in the main corridor, they found themselves running eagerly back to the fifth floor to get started. The room was still relatively clean, so they didn't feel the need to clean it as thoroughly as last year. Molly did a quick wipe of the floors and walls while her friends removed all the old, broken furniture, and then they brought in their old desks and chairs, positioning them once again in the pattern they had so come to love.

"I feel like I'm finally home," Sarah said, sitting back in her chair and closing her eyes, a smile on her face.

"I feel like I can finally get some proper studying done," Julie said, spreading out the few books she had with her to make her desk feel more like her own again. "All summer it was 'put your books away Julie' and 'come outside with me Julie'. My mother just does not understand how much work goes into being a perfect student."

"Tell me about it," Molly agreed. "My mother is a nightmare. At least my father is decent."

"Neither of my parents understand," Debbie said next. "They look at my grades and they look at my brother and sister's grades and they shrug and decide that I'm just naturally smarter than them. They don't realize that I worked for these grades. Worked hard."

MmMmMmMmMmM

"Hey Molly," Molly's cousin Louis greeted her one afternoon a few days later.

"Hey Louis," Molly smiled. "How're you settling in?"

"Alright," Louis shrugged. "Classes are harder than I thought they'd be."

"Really?" Molly asked in surprise. Her first month at Hogwarts had been a breeze.

"I'm enjoying Astronomy though," Louis said. "Except for the fact that it's on Thursday nights. How am I supposed to go to class Friday morning after being up half the night?"

"You'll get used to it," Molly assured him. "Try going to bed early on Thursdays and setting an alarm to wake you up just before class. That way you've rested a bit before hand and then you can sleep some more after."

"That's a good idea," Louis nodded. "Do you have any other tricks?"

"Don't wait until the last minute to study for your exams," Molly instructed. "Start now."

MmMmMmMmMmM

"When are we going to start learning?" Julie groaned the following week. The girls were all together in their study room working on their most recent potions assignment. "I mean, I get that some people don't study much over the summer, but that should be their problem, not ours!"

"We have to be almost done," Molly said. "We've almost covered everything from last year."

"This is such a waste of time," Sarah agreed. "I just want to move on from this and be done with it. I know how to brew a forgetfulness potion by now, I don't need to keep going over it."

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, and the girls immediately fell silent. Molly felt herself go cold. Headmaster Slinkhard had been very clear that they weren't to let any other students know about their private study room. As she was closest to the door, Debbie hurried forward and flipped the lock so as to keep whoever was on the other side out.

"What'd you do that for?" Julie hissed as quietly as possible. "What if it's Professor Longbottom?"

"What if it's a student?" Debbie countered.

"What if they know how to do magic?" Sarah pointed out, gesturing to the door. The lock was magically turning itself back into the unlocked position and the door was slowly being pushed open.

"Victoire?" Molly frowned when her older cousin walked inside. "What are you doing here?"

"What are you all doing here?" Victoire asked, looking around the room in surprise. "Do you realize that curfew was half an hour ago?"

"Wait, what?" Julie cried, reaching for her watch. When she saw the time, her eyes practically bulged out of her sockets. "Oh no!" she cried. "It is after curfew!"

"Victoire?" a male voice called out from the hall. "How many are in there?"

"Come and see for yourself," Victoire called back. Suddenly, Teddy appeared behind Victoire, his eyes widening in surprise as he saw Molly and the other three girls in their makeshift study space.

"What's all this?" Teddy asked.

"It's no big deal," Molly assured him. "We just didn't realize how late it was."

"I'm actually more concerned about this room," Teddy said. "Do you realize that taking control of an abandoned classroom like this is against the rules?"

"I actually didn't know that," Molly admitted, sharing a guilty look with her friends. "But this is fine, we have permission to be here, so if you wouldn't mind – "

"Who gave you permission?" Teddy demanded. "Why wasn't I informed?"

"Why would you be informed?" Molly frowned.

"I'm Head Boy!" Teddy cried. "Weren't you there when I announced it at the Burrow?"

"Oh yeah," Molly nodded, recalling the announcement and the celebration that had followed – both to celebrate Teddy becoming Head Boy, and also to celebrate Victoire being named a prefect. "Right, well I don't know why nobody told you, but it's really none of your concern."

"None of my concern?" Teddy said. "I'm Head Boy!"

"Listen Teddy, maybe we should all just – "

"The Headmaster didn't want anyone to know," Julie interrupted Victoire. "He thought if the students knew he was letting us use this classroom to study, then everyone would want their own private classrooms, and he couldn't have that, so he told us to keep it a secret."

"Even from me?" Teddy asked.

Julie shrugged. "You'd have to take that up with him," she said. "Though we'd appreciate it if you didn't, because if you tell him your found out, he's likely to take the room away from us, and then we'll have no place to study."

"Well I'm more concerned with the fact that you're all out past curfew," Victoire spoke up.

"We didn't realize how late it was," Molly assured her. "Normally we would never be out so late."

"This is their first infraction," Teddy added to Victoire. "Protocol is we give them a warning."

"I don't want my little cousin wandering around the castle all hours of the night," Victoire said.

"She's hardly wandering," Teddy pointed out. "She lost track of time. Give her a break."

Victoire blew out a breath. "Fine," she said. "But we're escorting you lot back to your common rooms."

"Of course," Julie nodded profusely. "And about the room…?"

Teddy sighed and exchanged a look with Victoire. "I won't say anything," he declared. "I doubt Molly would be lying about something like this. And I know there's no way she'd be using a room like this for anything other than studying, so there's really no harm being done."

"Thank you," Molly breathed a sigh of relief.

"If we catch you here after curfew again though, we're going to have to report you," Victoire said.

"We completely understand," Julie nodded. "We'll go back to our dorms now."

Teddy and Victoire escorted the girls together as far as they could before splitting up. Victoire carried on with Sarah and Molly while Teddy took Julie and Debbie to Ravenclaw Tower.

"You really didn't notice how dark it was?" Victoire asked.

Molly shrugged. "I guess not," she replied.

"We were really invested in our potions assignment," Sarah added. "Which actually… maybe I should go back and get that so that I can finish it in the common room before bed."

"Sorry, but rules are rules," Victoire said, coming to a stop in front of the Fat Lady. "You can go back for it tomorrow."

"Sorry about the trouble," Molly apologized as Sarah gave the password to the guardian of Gryffindor Tower and the portrait swung open. "Thanks for keeping our secret."

"Don't make me regret it," Victoire ordered, waiting for Molly to climb inside the common room before shutting the door behind her.

"Well that was a close call," Sarah commented, leading Molly up to their dorms.

"Yeah," Molly nodded. "Good thing it was my cousin."

"Good thing," Sarah agreed.


	12. October Year 2

_Year 2: Open Your Mind_

Chapter 12: October 2015

As September turned into October, Molly and her friends were overjoyed, as their Professors had finally moved on from first year review and started to teach real second year material. In charms, they were learning to cast the gripping spell; in potions they were studying swelling solutions; and in astronomy, Professor Brunwell was finally letting them study the movement of the skies, instead of just stationary images.

It was good, to be learning new things. Molly couldn't have asked for anything more. As it turned out though, this sentiment wasn't shared by all of her friends.

"I need something else to do," Julie said one day.

"What do you mean, something else?" Debbie questioned.

"I mean… I don't know," Julie said. "Something to do other than sit around all day."

"I don't understand," Molly frowned. "You're saying you don't want to study anymore?"

"Of course I still want to study," Julie assured her. "It's just that… I don't know, I guess I'm just feeling a little restless."

"I completely understand," Sarah said. "Like, you just want to go outside and move around a bit."

"Exactly," Julie agreed. "Except that would be a huge waste of time, of course," she added.

"We just have to find something productive to do outdoors," Sarah said.

"We could try studying by the lake," Debbie suggested. "It's still good weather, so it wouldn't get too cold."

"No, that'll only turn into a disaster," Julie shook her head. "The wind would be blowing our notes everywhere and we'd get all dirty from sitting in the grass."

"The notice for flying lessons went up on the notice board the other day," Sarah offered. "We could sign up to take them again."

"Aren't those only for first years?" Molly pointed out.

"Anyone can sign up," Debbie said. "Only it's usually only the first years that do it."

"Well why would we do it anyway?" Molly shook her head, the thought so ridiculous she could barely entertain it. "We've already taken our lessons and we all got certified."

"Well, if I'm being honest, I don't think my flying's as good as it could be," Sarah said. "At the time, I was so focused on getting through the lessons that I didn't put much thought into finesse. I think I'd like to go for the O though."

"This is insane!" Molly cried. "It's not like classes, where we have to do our best. Flying is just a useless skill."

"I think Sarah's right," Julie said. "It would be good to improve my flying skills. And they aren't necessarily useless. What if my future job requires that I fly on occasion?"

"I guess you have a point there," Molly allowed, her heart sinking. She'd disliked flying lessons with a passion the first time around. If she got roped into taking them over again…

"Well I'm in too," Debbie agreed. "It'll be a nice change of pace."

"I – What about school?" Molly demanded, feeling like the only one with any rational sense left. "What about our classes? We're going to fall behind!"

"No we won't," Julie disagreed. "Flying lessons are an hour after classes once a week, that's hardly going to impact our coursework."

Molly sighed. Clearly her friends were going to move forward with this, and if she didn't want to be stuck studying alone, she was going to have to join them.

"Fine," she muttered, appalled with herself. She should be more independent. She shouldn't feel compelled to do something just because everyone else was doing it. But here she was. "I guess we're going to flying lessons."

MmMmMmMmMmM

The first day of flying lessons, Molly and her friends made their way down to the Quidditch pitch along with the rest of the first year Gryffindors. They'd spoken to Madame Volant, and the flying instructor had agreed to let Debbie and Julie join the Gryffindor class, even though it was highly irregular. Molly and her friends had wanted to take the lessons altogether, or else the point of doing it would have been lost. Madame Volant didn't seem to mind too much, given that the girls were already certified, and therefore shouldn't get in the way all that much.

"Molly?" Louis frowned when he caught sight of his cousin. "What are you doing here?"

"Re-taking the flying lessons," Molly explained, fetching a broom from the broom shed and lining up with the other students.

"But why?" Louis frowned.

"So that I can learn to fly better," Molly snapped. "Now leave me alone and focus on your own flying."

Molly felt bad for snapping, but she was starting to feel nervous. Though she'd received her flying certification already, she suspected that she'd only barely passed the evaluation. Flying lessons had been a miserable experience for her the first time around, and now she found herself willingly putting herself in a position to be tortured all over again.

Madame Volant instructed everyone to place their brooms next to them on the ground and then to call their brooms up. Molly did this without hesitation, and her broom came to her immediately. The first years gaped at Molly and her friends, impressed that they were so advanced. Molly laughed to herself, knowing that the impression wouldn't last long.

Too soon, it was time to practice hovering. Molly mounted her broom carefully and held on tightly as she forced herself to rise into the air only slightly and remain hovering until Madame Volant blew her whistle, telling them all to return to the ground.

"Molly, what's wrong with you?" Julie demanded. "You look like you're going to be sick."

"I just don't like the feeling," Molly explained. "Of being in the air. I like having solid ground under my feet."

"Well then why on earth did you agree to re-take your flying lessons?" Debbie asked.

Molly shrugged. "You all were doing it," she said. "And you made some good points. Just because I don't enjoy flying doesn't mean I shouldn't be good at it."

Madame Volant went through some more of her usual exercises, which Molly completed reluctantly. While the rest of the class zoomed around the Quidditch pitch in fast circles, Molly flew at a ridiculously slow speed, afraid that if she went too fast, she might fly into something.

"Molly, come on," Sarah urged. "You can speed up just a little. I've lapped you four times now."

"I'm just being careful," Molly said, refusing to pick up the pace at all.

"Even your cousin has managed to lap you," Sarah added, gesturing to Louis, who was now just ahead of Molly.

"Well obviously Louis is a good flier," Molly said.

"No," Sarah laughed. "He really isn't."

She flew off, leaving Molly to ponder that.

After the allocated hour, Madame Volant dismissed the class, sending them back up to the castle while she cleaned everything up.

"You guys go on ahead," Molly said, urging her friends to return without her. "I just have a could questions for Madame Volant."

"Alright," Debbie agreed, putting her broom away. "We'll see you up in the study room?"

"Sure," Molly nodded. "If not, I'll definitely see you at dinner though. We're sitting at Ravenclaw tonight, right?"

Julie nodded, a concerned look in her eye, but didn't question Molly further. As her friends disappeared, Molly approached Madame Volant.

"Excuse me?" she asked, trying to catch her instructor's attention.

"Ah, Molly, how can I help you?" Madame Volant asked.

"Well, I'm sure you're aware that I'm not a particularly good flier…" Molly began hesitantly.

"Oh no," Madame Volant frowned. "Don't say that. I wouldn't have certified you if I didn't think you could fly."

"I know I can fly," Molly amended. "I'm just… well I'm not very good at it. I can't go fast, or very high off the ground. I'm… cautious."

"Caution isn't necessarily a bad thing," Madame Volant pointed out.

"I suppose not," Molly allowed. "But I feel like I'm… limiting myself. I want to be the best. And I can't be the best if I let myself be scared by something as simple as flying."

"I don't think you're scared of flying," Madame Volant said. "I think you're afraid of hurting yourself."

Molly nodded. Madame Volant was right – Molly was afraid that if she went too fast or flew too high, she could have an accident and land in the hospital wing.

"Tell you what," Madame Volant said. "I have some time free. Get back on that broom and try flying just a little bit faster than you were before. I'll be right here, with my undivided attention directed solely on you. If you're going to crash, I'll stop you before you can hurt yourself, alright?"

Molly nodded. "It's worth a try," she decided. If she was going to do this, she was going to do it right. Molly liked to commit to things. She didn't like only giving 50%.

Molly mounted her broom and kicked off, starting at her regular speed. When Madame Volant called out to remind her to speed up just a little, Molly did so, determined now to see this thing through.

"That's good Molly," Madame Volant called out. "Now how about you try going just a little higher? If you fall, I'll be sure to slow you down."

Molly did as instructed, tilting her broom upwards a bit, putting just a little more distance between herself and the ground. She felt good, with the wind rushing past her face and her hair streaming out behind her. Suddenly feeling more confident, Molly flew just a little higher and a little faster, enjoying the feeling of pride as she did.

Suddenly, Molly momentarily lost her balance, leaning to the side and causing her broom to start to turn over. She cried out, grasping the handle of her broom firmly as she attempted to right herself. She was still flying fast, and she did all that she could to slow herself as she flew straight for the stands. She couldn't turn, because she was still hanging off the side, and she was failing in her attempts to slow herself.

Just then, she felt some outside force pulling her back, and realized that Madame Volant was stopping her from crashing. Relief flooded through her and she stretched her legs towards the ground, eager to feel the stable, solid earth under her feet once more.

"That was an excellent start," Madame Volant congratulated Molly. "I'm quite impressed."

"I don't think I want to do that again," Molly said, her body trembling from her ordeal.

"Are you sure?" Madame Volant asked. "You were doing wonderfully. It's normal to lose your balance every now and again."

Molly shook her head. She'd hated that feeling of being completely out of control. She'd been hurtling forward, with no way of stopping herself or changing course. She'd been at the complete mercy of her broom and completely dependent on Madame Volant to save her.

"No, I'm sorry," Molly shook her head. "I can't. I don't think I can continue flying lessons."

"Well it's up to you," Madame Volant said. "You've already been certified, so you don't have to be here. I hope you'll change your mind though. If you decide to come next week, you're more than welcome."

Molly thanked Madame Volant for her help and apologized for wasting her time.

"You haven't wasted my time at all," Madame Volant said. "I'm always happy to help out any student."

By the time Molly returned to the castle, there was no point going to the fifth floor, because by the time she got there she'd only have to come back down. Instead she chose a place at the Ravenclaw table and started to pick at her food, waiting for her friends to descend.

"There you are Molly!" Julie exclaimed upon entering the Hall. "Where have you been?"

"Just talking with Madame Volant," Molly said, not mentioning the flying bit. "I don't think I'm going to continue with flying lessons."

"What do you mean?" Sarah frowned. "We're doing them together."

"Flying's just not for me," Molly shrugged.

"So what, you're just going to sit alone and study while we're out flying?" Julie demanded. "I thought we were friends."

"We are," Molly assured her. "This isn't about our friendship, it's about me not liking flying."

"But you did fine today," Debbie pointed out. "You don't have to go fast or anything. Nobody minds if you want to go slowly."

"But I don't want to fly at all," Molly said. "I don't feel comfortable."

"Fine," Julie said, ending the conversation. "Whatever. It's your choice."

Molly felt awful about the whole thing, but didn't know how else to explain it. She really just didn't want to fly anymore. She wished her friends could understand that.

MmMmMmMmMmM

The following week, when it was time for flying lessons, Molly said goodbye to her friends on the second floor, parting from them and heading up to the fifth floor by herself while they trooped down to the grounds. Julie had seemed mad that Molly hadn't reconsidered, and Sarah had seemed disappointed. Only Debbie seemed to understand that Molly's decision wasn't about them, but about herself.

Molly arrived on the fifth floor and made her way to their study room, closing the door behind her and sitting down at her desk. She had a herbology assignment, a history of magic paper, and some transfiguration reading to do. She decided to start with transfiguration, and pulled out her textbook, flipping it open to the correct page.

After about fifteen minutes, Molly's thoughts got too loud to pay attention to her textbook anymore, and she furiously shut it closed, slamming it onto her desk. Why did her friends have to be so self-centered? This wasn't all about them, after all.

Molly walked over to the window and opened it, leaning out and looking down at the ground. She could see the Quidditch pitch from here, as well as all the students flying around it. She couldn't tell who was who, but she thought she saw some flashes of blue, so she figured those must be Debbie and Julie.

Molly wasn't going to change her mind. Just like she always gave 100% in the things that she did, she was also completely committed to not going back to flying lessons. She shouldn't care that her friends were upset. She shouldn't care about what anybody else thought about anything. The fact that she'd agreed to go back to flying lessons in the first place was baffling. Since when did Molly let other people dictate her decisions?

With a start, Molly realized that her friendships were exactly what she'd always thought they weren't. She'd always thought she was above those friendships where you make allowances for each other and do things you don't want to do because the other person wants to. For Molly, her friendships had always been a thing of convenience – they all liked to study and valued the same things, and so they'd banded together. So when had that turned into something else?

With this realization came another. If she was going to fix things, she had to make a gesture – show her friends that she cared. Did she care? Molly realized the answer was yes. She wanted her friends to go on liking her. She didn't like when they were mad at her. Of course, Molly also couldn't simply go back to flying lessons, because she'd made it pretty clear that she was never going to do that again. She wasn't going to compromise herself for her friends.

Knowing what she had to do, and aware that it was going to be a complete waste of valuable study time, Molly left her belongings behind and began to descend to the main floor of the castle. She didn't have to join the flying lessons, but she at least had to support her friends in their endeavor.

Molly reached the Entrance Hall and exited the castle, slowly making her way down to the grounds. The flying lessons were half over, which meant that she would only have to wait a half an hour. Still, it was a long time to be away from her homework for no good reason.

Molly reached the pitch and climbed into the stands, choosing a seat in the middle and leaning back, looking between the students for her friends.

"Molly!" Sarah cried in surprise, flying over. "What are you doing here?"

"Well I might not want to fly," Molly said. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to sit up in that castle all alone."

"I'm glad you came," Sarah smiled.

"Go on," Molly said, waving her friend on. "Practice your turns or whatever."

Sarah flew off in Julie and Debbie's directions, pulling them to a stop to say something. She pointed in Molly's direction and Molly smiled and waved. Debbie and Julie both seemed happy to see her and Molly realized that she'd made the right decision coming down here.

"It was nice of you to come," Julie said later when lessons were over. "But why did you?"

"Isn't that what friends do?" Molly asked. "Support one another? Watch each other fly around in circles?"

"I guess it is," Julie smiled.

MmMmMmMmMmM

The next week, when class was over, Molly immediately started to follow her friends down to the Quidditch pitch.

"Hey, look Molly," Julie said, stopping in the middle of a corridor. "You really don't have to come with us."

"But I want to," Molly insisted.

"No you don't," Debbie said. "You want to work on that charms assignment."

"Okay," Molly allowed. "I want to work on charms. But I can work on it after your lessons are over."

"Look, it's fine. We're friends. You don't have to sit around for an hour watching us fly," Julie said. "We understand that flying isn't your thing and it was wrong of us to make you feel bad about quitting."

"Are you sure though?" Molly asked. "Because I really don't mind coming down."

"No, we would feel bad if you came down and wasted an hour you could be spending doing something productive," Sarah said. "Go study. We'll join you when we're done."

Bidding her friends goodbye, Molly practically skipped up to the fifth floor. She was excited to get to work on her charms assignment, but even more happy that her friends had understood and accepted her reluctance to fly again. And she felt good about the separation. Last week, the separation had been stained by the negativity of their parting. Today though, things were good, and Molly couldn't imagine needing anything else.


	13. November Year 2

_Year 2: Open Your Mind_

Chapter 13: November 2015

"This is such a waste of time," Sarah complained. "Three feet on the uses of flobberworm mucus? I ran out of things to say after the first foot."

"You need to write bigger," Debbie said without looking up from her own work.

"That's terrible advice," Molly cried. "That's the kind of thing you do when all you want is an A."

"Have you seen Sarah's writing?" Julie pointed out, grabbing Sarah's essay and shoving it on Molly's desk. "It's miniscule."

"Oh," Molly nodded. "Yeah, okay I see now. Sarah, you need to write bigger."

Sarah grabbed her parchment back, glaring at her friends. "I do not," she disagreed. "I'll come up with more to say."

"There's only so many uses of flobberworm mucus," Debbie pointed out. "What else can you say once you've named them all?"

"I can elaborate on the different potions it can be used in – how it reacts with different ingredients to produce different effects, how the heat of the potion at the time of addition affects it's potency…" Sarah muttered.

"You really want to do all that?" Molly asked. "It sounds like way more than Professor Abbott-Longbottom asked for."

"Of course I don't want to do it," Sarah replied. "I hate potions. But I want the O."

"What do you mean you hate potions?" Molly frowned.

Sarah shrugged. "I mean I don't like the subject," she said. "Its far too particular and there's way too much room for error when brewing a potion. I mean, just look at what happened with your wideye potion last year. Every time we brew something new, I'm afraid that'll happen because I was distracted and missed a step, or did a step too early or something."

"But… but…" Molly spluttered. "But you can't hate potions, you love potions, you love all of school."

"Well sure I love being in school and going to classes," Sarah agreed. "But that doesn't mean I have to enjoy every class."

"Why does this bother you so much, Molly?" Julie questioned.

Molly shrugged. "I don't know," she muttered. "It's just… weird."

The truth was, Molly knew exactly what was making her uncomfortable. Sarah, Debbie, and Julie were supposed to be just like her. They were supposed to like all the same things. They were the tops of their class, spent all their time together… All through last year, they'd done everything together. Molly had thought they were a team. But this year everything seemed to be changing. First, her friends had all decided to join flying lessons, and now Sarah was telling her she hated potions?

"What's next?" Molly demanded. "Debbie, are you going to suddenly declare that you hate charms?"

"No," Debbie shrugged. "I quite like charms. It's transfiguration I'm not a fan of."

"What?" Molly cried. Transfiguration was arguably Molly's favorite subject, though she loved them all with a passion. How could Debbie not enjoy a subject full of careful calculations and precision?

"I like herbology though," Debbie offered.

"Well of course you like Herbology," Molly said. "You also like transfiguration. You have to."

"No," Debbie shook her head. "I really don't."

"Come on Molly, it's not like you don't have your favorites," Julie said.

"Well sure," Molly agreed. "But I only have favorites from my list of favorites. I don't hate any of my classes, I love them all."

"Well see, that's just not true," Sarah said.

"What do you mean?" Molly demanded.

"You hate defence," Sarah declared.

Molly gaped. "I do not!" she cried.

"You do, actually," Julie said. "Which I find simply bizarre, because defence is my absolute favorite class. But it's cool, you know, because everyone's different."

"No!" Molly insisted. "This isn't right. We love school!"

"Molly, I think you need to just calm down a little," Debbie said. "Take a walk or something."

"I think I will," Molly decided, grabbing her defence textbook as she stood. "In fact, I'm going to go and find someplace where I can read the upcoming chapter in defence. Because I _love_ defence, and I'm going to be extra-prepared tomorrow."

"Sure, Molly," Julie said. "You do that."

Molly left then, slamming the door behind her. What was happening? Not long ago, she and her friends had agreed on everything. It was them against the world. Whenever the other students were making fun of them for always studying, they would band together for support. Whenever a subject in a class was difficult, they'd help each other through it. When Headmaster Slinkhard threatened to take away their study room, it was together that they'd found a way to keep it.

So what was happening now? Suddenly it seemed that her friends were drifting away from her. Molly couldn't pinpoint exactly when she'd come to rely so heavily on her friends, but apparently it had happened. But could they even be called friends anymore, if their interests were so different? Molly felt like she didn't even know Sarah, Debbie, and Julie anymore.

Molly walked down to the second floor and made her way to the library; the only spot in the castle she could think of to go to study by herself. It wasn't as good as the study room upstairs, but if she found a secluded enough corner, maybe she could manage to read without distraction.

As Molly wandered through the library in search of a suitable spot, she came upon her cousin Dominique, studying with two male friends.

"Hey Molly," Dominique greeted her upon seeing her.

"Oh, her Domi," Molly replied. "Don't mind me."

"Is something wrong?" Dominique wondered. "Where are your friends? Shouldn't you be off with them, wherever it is you go?"

"How do you know we go someplace?" Molly wondered, narrowing her eyes. If Victoire had told Domi anything about their study room…

"Well you're never in the library or the common room," Dominique explained. "And I spend a lot of time in both."

"Maybe we spend our time in the inter-house study lounge," Molly suggested. "Two of my friends are in Ravenclaw after all, so we would benefit greatly from it."

"Then where were you all last year?" Dominique pointed out. "Look, it doesn't matter, I was just curious why you were here, without them."

"It's nothing," Molly sighed. "I'm fine."

Molly started to walk away, but Dominique stood and blocked her.

"Hang on," Dominique said. "You seem… off. Sad isn't the word, but you're in that zone."

"I'm melancholy," Molly said.

"What's making you melancholy?" Dominique asked.

"People don't need a reason to be melancholy," Molly said. "Sometimes it just happens."

"But I'm getting the sense that you do have a reason. Something's bothering you."

Molly hesitated, torn between her desire to talk about things and her desire to just lose herself in her defence book. "It's really nothing," she said.

"Look," Dominique declared. "I'm not leaving you alone until you talk to me."

Molly sighed. "Well can we do it someplace else?" she asked. "I don't fancy having a heart to heart in the middle of the aisle."

"Oh," Dominique nodded, steering Molly further into the library to a private spot. "Alright, is this better then?"

"I guess so," Molly shrugged.

Dominique waited for Molly to talk, but when Molly didn't volunteer anything, she decided to prompt her. "So you're feeling melancholy?"

Molly sighed. "I just think my friends and I are drifting apart," she said.

"Oh," Dominique nodded. "I can understand that."

"I mean, we used to be the same. We'd do everything together. But now…" Molly trailed off.

"But now they want to do things without you, they're hanging out with new people, you don't see them as much, and you start wondering if they're only staying friends with you out of a sense of duty," Dominique completed for Molly.

Molly frowned. "No that's not it," she shook her head.

Now Dominique frowned. "Then what is it?" she asked.

Molly searched for the words. "It's… Like before, we only had the same interests. We were all the same. But now it's like I'm realizing that they're all so different from me."

"Can you give me an example?" Dominique asked.

"Like… Sarah says she hates potions. And supposedly Debbie hates transfiguration. Up until today, we all loved our classes equally and then out of the blue they're announcing that actually they don't like all their classes. And Julie seems to think I hate defence, even though she loves defence. And if that's true, then what does it say about me?"

"Well do you like defence?" she asked.

Molly reflected for a moment. "No," she admitted finally. "I really don't."

"Then it means that you don't like defence," Dominique said.

"But how can I be friends with Julie if she loves defence and I hate it?" Molly asked. "And how can I be friends with Debbie if she hates transfiguration and it's my favorite subject?"

"Differences are part of what makes a friendship so interesting," Dominique said. "You don't have to be exactly the same in every regard. You just have to have enough in common to get along. Look at me and my friends. They all love Quidditch with a passion. Brooke's even on the Quidditch team this year, and Miles and Tom tried out, only they didn't make it this year."

"But you hate Quidditch," Molly frowned, confused. "Why are you friends with them?"

Dominique laughed. "Because we get along. We have a good time together. We have plenty of other things in common that we can connect over."

"But what do you do when they all decide to talk about Quidditch?" Molly asked.

"Sometimes I listen," Dominique replied. "Try to understand what they're saying and contribute what I can. Most of the time I roll my eyes and ignore them."

"And they're okay with that?" Molly asked in surprise.

"Sure," Dominique nodded. "And then when I want to talk about something that I'm interested in, I know they'll listen too, even though they aren't as interested as I am."

"Or they'll roll their eyes and pretend to listen," Molly added.

"Exactly," Dominique grinned.

"But is it really friendship if they're only pretending?" Molly asked.

"Well they're not pretending to be my friends," Dominique explained. "They're pretending to listen to me, because they are my friends and they know that whatever I'm saying is something that interests me. So instead of walking away, they pretend to be interested."

"I never thought of it that way," Molly said. "So if I want to be a true friend to Julie, I have to let her talk about how interesting defence is, even if I hate it. And if Debbie wants to be a true friend to me, she'll let me talk about transfiguration, even if she's not interested in the least?"

"Right," Dominique nodded. "And then you can bond over… What's a subject you all like?"

Molly thought about it for a moment. "We all seem to enjoy charms," she said.

"There you go," Dominique said. "Something you all have in common."

"I guess I see your point," Molly said. "Thanks."

"No problem," Dominique smiled.

"I think I'm going to go and find my friends now," Molly declared.

"And I think I'll be getting back to mine," Dominique nodded.

Molly stood and began to walk away. Just as she was about to round the corner and disappear from sight, she turned to address her cousin once more.

"Hey Domi?" she called out.

"Hmm?" Dominique asked, looking over.

"If you and your friends are going to study in the library, you should really keep the volume down. There are people trying to focus in here," Molly said.

"I'll keep that in mind," Dominique chuckled.

MmMmMmMmMmM

Molly returned to the study room with her friends, nervous that they'd be angry about her earlier outburst. Thankfully, they were happy to have her back, and studying was able to continue without further incident.

"Hey Debbie?" Molly ventured a while later.

"What's up?" Debbie asked.

"Well since you hate transfiguration, and I enjoy it immensely, I was wondering if there was anything you were having trouble with that I might be able to help you with," Molly offered.

"Thanks Molly," Debbie smiled. "Not at the moment, but I'll let you know."

Okay," Molly nodded.

The room lapsed back into silence for another half hour of silent study before Molly spoke again.

"Hey Julie?" she asked.

"Yeah?" Julie said, looking up from her herbology textbook.

"Would you mind helping me out at some point with my disarming spell?" Molly asked. "I'm having trouble with the aim. I think it's coming out of my wand at a peculiar angle and I don't know why. I just figured… since you love defence so much and I hate it, that you'd be willing to help."

"Sure," Julie agreed readily. "Maybe tomorrow after class?"

"Sounds good," Molly nodded, letting herself again be absorbed by her astronomy homework.

A couple of minutes later, Sarah spoke up. "What's your deal?" she asked. "Earlier it was freaking you out that we could like different subjects, and now it's fine?"

"I talked to my cousin," Molly explained. "I realized that we can still be friends even if we like different things."

"Well of course we can," Debbie said. "You thought we couldn't be?"

Molly shrugged. "I don't know," she muttered. "I've never had friends before. I didn't know how it worked."

"So who's going to help me with potions then?" Sarah demanded playfully. "Because my flobberworm mucus essay is a disaster and I've only got two feet so far."

"I already told you," Debbie repeated. "You need to write bigger."

"Actually Debbie, maybe you could help Sarah come up with more to say," Molly suggested. "You said your favorite subject was herbology? Herbology and potions overlap quite a bit. And flobberworm mucus has a lot of interesting reactions with different magical plants as well."

"Well alright," Debbie agreed. "I guess I could help with the essay. I still think you just need to write a little bigger though.

The girls lapsed into silence again until Molly found herself with thoughts flying through her mind. She would have preferred to stay focused on her work, but clearly she needed to sort things out first.

"Julie, you never told us what subject you hate," Molly said. "And Sarah, you never said which subject you enjoy most. I like transfiguration, but Debbie hates it. I hate defence, but Julie loves it. Sarah hates potions and Debbie loves herbology."

"I don't think it can be so oversimplified," Debbie said. "Not everyone has just one good and one bad subject."

"No," Molly agreed. "But everyone has a scale, and there's always something at the top and at the bottom of the scale."

"I like history," Sarah declared. "I like it because all I have to do is remember it. It doesn't depend on my skill level. I don't have to brew a potion or cast a spell to show that I understand it. I just have to remember what I've been told."

"I hate astronomy," Julie declared. "I like things that are fast-paced. It takes months, years, for anything interesting to happen up in the sky."

Molly nodded.

"I like transfiguration because of the theory," Molly said. "It's not like charms, where you can cast a spell without understanding what you're doing. In transfiguration, you have to really know what to do. And I hate defence because it's too spontaneous and disorganized. And loud. Everything in defence is so loud. People are always screaming in that class."

"I already told you why I hate potions," Sarah said with a shrug. "Too much room for error. Too much need for precision."

"I like herbology," Debbie said. "Because I like the idea that from almost nothing, we can grow a plant that can be the main ingredient in a potion that can cure illness. And I like caring for the plants, nurturing them."

"I like defence because it's fast-paced," Julie said. "I like that I can be dueling and I'm not even thinking about my next move before I do it. I like how simple it can be. And I like the running and the dodging. It's exhilarating."

"I hate transfiguration because it requires too much concentration," Debbie said. "Sometimes I feel like my head is about to explode from me trying to remember every detail of a spell. And it takes forever to learn all the theory. We're not even scheduled to learn our first new transfiguration spell until the second term. We're spending four whole months on theory alone."

"But the theory's so interesting!" Molly protested. "Sorry," she immediately amended. "I just really like transfiguration."

"It's alright," Debbie said. "I understand. I'm sure I'd be just as defensive if one of you hated herbology."

"Well I don't hate it as much as potions, but I'm not a huge fan," Sarah volunteered. "It's pretty low on my list of favorites."

"Well I'm not the hugest fan of history," Debbie said. "So I guess we're even."

"This is good, right?" Molly asked. "Sharing like this?"

"Yeah," Julie agreed. "We are friends after all. We should know each other more than just each other's study habits."

"We should keep talking," Sarah agreed.

"Yeah," Debbie nodded.

"Maybe we should save the more talking for tomorrow though," Molly suggested. "Curfew's coming and I'd really like to finish this assignment."

Her friends readily agreed that returning to their work was a good idea. Talking about their differences was all well and good, but they all still had one important thing in common; they were all still striving to be top of their class. And as Molly picked up her quill, she realized something important. That underlying desire they all shared – that's what made their friendship so strong.


	14. December Year 2

_Year 2: Open Your Mind_

Chapter 14: December 2015

 _Dear Molly,_

 _Though I'm sure you won't believe me, your father and I have given this issue much consideration. However, we think it unnecessary for you to remain at Hogwarts over the Christmas holidays. You claim that you need the time to study, to do well on your exams, but you came home last year and still achieved top marks. If you were doing poorly in school, this would be another matter entirely, but your father and I are confident that you can spare the time._

 _Furthermore, your family wants to see you. Your sister has been missing you terribly, and your Uncle Thomas and Aunt Abigail haven't seen you since last Christmas. Not to mention your Grandmother would be devastated if you weren't in this year's Weasley family portrait._

 _We will see you at King's Cross on Saturday,_

 _Mom_

"Ugh!" Molly cried, angrily ripping the letter in two. "Why can't my parents be cool?" she demanded.

"If it makes you feel any better, mine are making me go home too," Debbie offered.

"But Julie and Sarah get to stay at Hogwarts for the holidays," Molly whined. "They're going to get so much more done than I ever will surrounded by cousins day and night."

"It won't be day and night," Julie assured her. "Didn't you say yourself that you just have to see the Weasleys on Christmas Eve and the Browns on Christmas Day? Once that's over, you can lock yourself in your room and pretend you're here."

"You're right," Molly agreed. "I just have to get through those two days. It can't be that hard."

MmMmMmMmMmM

The Weasley family Christmas Eve dinner passed much the same as they always did. Victoire and Teddy elected not to play hide-and-seek, but Molly was hardly surprised. They hadn't been very willing participants the past few years anyway, and were getting a little old for it besides.

Now that Louis was old enough, he was able to participate in the family game of Quidditch. To even things out, Teddy convinced Victoire to play too, but she was even worse than Louis, who wobbled as he attempted to fly around the pitch.

In Secret Santa, Molly had drawn her little cousin Roxanne's name and at her mother's suggestion had gotten her some candy. Supposedly children enjoyed receiving candy, though Molly was more inclined to buy her cousin a book. Molly's name had been drawn by her Aunt Hermione, who had mercifully understood the proper etiquette of gift-giving and had bought Molly a book about the history of wizardry in South America – a topic Molly was eager to learn about.

Molly's sweater this year was green with a large white 'M' on the front. Once the family picture had been taken, everyone started heading home. Since Audrey had helped with the dishes last year, Grandmother Weasley insisted that she give someone else a turn this year, and to Molly's relief, she and her family flooed home relatively early.

Unfortunately, the next morning, Molly was met with disturbing news.

"Your Aunt Abigail has just found out that her mother is very sick," Audrey informed Molly and Lucy over breakfast.

"That's too bad," Molly said.

"It is," Audrey agreed. "She and your Uncle Thomas are going to go and stay with her for a few days."

"Does that mean they aren't coming over tonight?" Lucy asked, disappointed.

"I'm sorry honey, but it does," Audrey nodded.

Molly started to smile at the prospect of a whole day free for studying, when her mother spoke again.

"Since they don't want their children stuck in a house full of sickness, your cousins are going to be coming and staying with us," Audrey said.

"Wait, what?" Molly said, food spurting out of her mouth as she did so.

"Vanessa and Tommy are going to be staying here a few days," her mother repeated.

"As in _living_ here?" Molly asked.

"That's what I said," Audrey nodded, giving Molly a look. "And you are going to be a gracious hostess."

"Where are they going to sleep?" Lucy asked. "On the couch?"

"Actually," Audrey said, "your father and I thought it would be nicer if they didn't have to sleep in the living room. We thought it would be nice if they could sleep in your room, Lucy."

"Both of them?" Molly questioned. "It's going to get pretty crowded in there."

"Yes," Audrey nodded. "Which is why we thought it might be nice if Lucy could sleep in your room for a few days Molly."

"Yay!" Lucy cried in excitement. "It'll be like a sleepover!"

"No," Molly balked. "Mom, you can't do this to me."

"I'm not doing anything to you," Audrey said. "Your cousins need a place to stay and we have limited space. Lucy's giving up far more than you. She's giving up her whole room."

"You're taking away my privacy!" Molly cried. "My peace, my quiet. How am I going to study if Lucy's in my room all the time?"

"Well you won't be studying anyway," Audrey said. "With your cousins coming, I'll expect you to entertain them."

"Why me?" Molly demanded. "Why not you or Lucy?"

"Young lady," Audrey cried. "Do not make me order you to spend time with your cousins. It's bad enough that you're reluctant at all. You only see them once a year. Surely you can make some time for them?"

Molly sighed. She knew there was nothing for it. "When are they getting here?" she asked.

"Any minute now," Audrey said.

MmMmMmMmMmM

It was only about twenty minutes before Molly heard the sounds of the fireplace and knew that her cousins had arrived. Carefully, she finished packing her notes and things away where her sister wouldn't be able to reach them and mess them up before going downstairs to greet her cousins.

"Thank you so much for doing this," her Uncle Thomas was saying to her mother. "It means the world to Abigail to have this time with her mother."

"I'm happy to take the kids anytime," Audrey replied. "You should go. Write me if there's anything else."

Uncle Thomas had already returned to the fireplace when Molly appeared, and before she could say hello, he was gone.

"Hi Molly!" her nine-year-old cousin Vanessa said excitedly upon seeing her.

"Hey," Molly said with a wave. "Hey Tommy."

"Where's Lucy?" Vanessa wondered.

"I think she's in her room," Audrey said. "I asked her to clean things up before you got here, since you'll be sleeping there."

Without a word, Vanessa had darted upstairs to find her cousin, leaving Molly alone with her mother and her five-year-old cousin.

"Molly," Audrey said, motioning to Tommy with her eyes.

"Right," Molly said, remembering that she was supposed to be entertaining him. "Um… so Tommy, what do you want to do?"

"Can I play with your wand?" Tommy asked.

"No," Molly shook her head, immediately glad that she'd hidden it away high up with her notes. Tommy would never reach it there.

"Can we play hairdresser?" Tommy asked.

"How do you play that?" Molly asked.

"It's where I'm the hairdresser and I cut your hair," Tommy explained.

"Then definitely not," Molly said. She wasn't about to let a five-year-old near her with a pair of scissors.

"Can we play – "

"Have you ever played hide and seek?" Molly asked, interrupting him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her mother nodding in approval.

"I like hide and seek," Tommy nodded.

"Let's see if Lucy and Vanessa want to play too," Molly suggested, taking Tommy by the hand and leading him upstairs.

Thinking of hide and seek was a stroke of genius for Molly. She volunteered to count, and then revised her herbology notes for ten minutes before seeking. If she kept things up like this, she could still manage to stay on top of her studies despite the sudden change of events.

Hiding was a bit more difficult. Molly tried hiding where she would be easily found, so that she could be the counter again and revise some more, but Tommy was a terrible hider and despite Molly's efforts much too easy to find. Then there was the Lucy problem.

"Molly," Lucy asked. "Why are you so bad at this all of a sudden. Normally you find really good hiding spots."

"I guess the Burrow just has better opportunities," Molly shrugged.

Lucy narrowed her eyes, but didn't press any further.

Soon, it was time for lunch and Audrey called them all down to the kitchen.

"And what have you all been up to today?" she asked.

"Playing hide and seek," Tommy volunteered.

"Do you have any plans for after lunch?" Audrey asked.

"Well," Vanessa said. "Tommy's meant to take a nap after he eats lunch."

"Yes," Audrey nodded. "Your father did tell me that."

"I don't need a nap," Tommy shook his head. "I'm a big boy. I'm five years old."

"You're taking a nap," Audrey said. "Molly, will you see to it that he goes down?"

"Goes down?" Molly frowned. "He's not a baby, he's five. He doesn't need a nap."

"Uncle Thomas says he gets a nap, so he'll get a nap," Audrey declared. "Girls, maybe you'll want to play outside for a while, so that Tommy can have some silence while he sleeps?"

"We can build a snowman!" Lucy suggested.

"I want to build a snowman," Tommy whined.

"You can build two snowmen," Audrey suggested. "One while Tommy sleeps, and then another when he wakes up."

MmMmMmMmMmM

Just as Audrey had said, when lunch was over Molly took Tommy up to Lucy's room and tried to get him to take a nap.

"I don't want to nap," Tommy rebelled, refusing to get under the covers. "I want to play outside."

"You can play outside after you've napped," Molly instructed.

"But I'm not sleepy," Tommy complained.

"Well then make yourself sleepy," Molly told him.

"How?" Tommy asked.

"I don't know," Molly said. "Have you ever counted sheep?"

"No," Tommy shook his head.

"Okay, imagine a bunch of sheep in a line, jumping over a fence," Molly said.

"Why?" Tommy asked.

"Just do it," Molly ordered.

Tommy closed his eyes and laid down, picturing the sheep.

"Why are they in a line?" he asked.

"I don't know," Molly said, exasperatedly. "Because they're waiting their turn to jump the fence."

"Well why do they want to jump the fence?" Tommy asked. "What's so special about it?"

"It's a magical fence," Molly invented. "When the sheep jump over it, they get special powers."

"What kind of special powers?" Tommy asked.

"I don't care," Molly said. "Whatever you want. Just count the sheep."

"Why?" Tommy asked.

"Because I said so!" Molly cried, reaching the end of her patience.

Tommy was quiet for a moment and then he opened his eyes. "There are fourteen sheep," he declared.

"No," Molly frowned. "That's not how you do it, you have to keep counting."

"But there's no more sheep," Tommy said.

"Then make more sheep," Molly instructed. "It's your imagination."

"How many more sheep should I make?" Tommy asked.

"Infinite sheep," Molly said.

"What's infinite?" Tommy wondered.

Molly took a deep breath to keep from screaming. "Okay, obviously this isn't working," she said.

"You could read to me," Tommy offered. "Sometimes Mommy reads to me and that helps."

"What does she read to you?" Molly wondered, thinking that this new method would undoubtedly work better than the last.

"Usually storybooks from my room," Tommy said. "But you can read whatever you want. I don't usually listen much."

Molly hummed. If all Tommy wanted was for Molly to read something – anything at all, really… could she get away with reading her notes?

"One second," Molly said, running across the hall to her room and grabbing her herbology notes again. She returned and sat down next to Lucy's bed, instructing Tommy to lie down. "Okay, I'm going to read to you now," she said.

"Okay," Tommy said.

Molly cleared her throat and began. "Bowtruckles are tree-dwelling creatures, often found in western England, southern Germany, and certain Scandinavian forests," she read. "They are tree-guardians and generally protect trees whose wood is of wand-making quality. They are very small and difficult to spot – they're no bigger than a hand and can easily blend in with the tree in which they dwell, having the appearance of a twig. They eat insects, particularly wood lice, which pose a threat to the trees where they live. Though bowtruckles form strong bonds with their home tree, they can be very useful to herbologists when working with a number of different plants. Bowtruckles will eat any sort of insect that they come across, and when placed with a particular plant, will guard and protect it from insect invaders as if it were it's home tree. Bowtruckles shouldn't be kept away from the home tree for extended periods of time though, or else the separation could kill it."

Molly looked up from her notes then to check on Tommy and found that he was fast asleep.

With a smile, Molly leaned back and silently continued to read her notes, content to do so next to her sleeping cousin.

MmMmMmMmMmM

When Tommy awoke from his nap, his energy level was exceptionally high. Having been promised a snowman, he dragged Molly away from her studying and downstairs to the yard, where Lucy and Vanessa were busy decorating their completed snowman with a carrot for a nose and Percy's scarf around it's neck.

"They finished without me," Tommy cried, disappointed.

"Don't worry," Molly assured him. "We'll make our own snowman and it'll be ten times better than theirs."

"And bigger too?" Tommy asked.

"And bigger too," Molly agreed.

Molly quickly came to regret that last promise as she pushed a growing snowball around the yard. Tommy was too small to push it any further, but still unsatisfied with it's size.

"Bigger!" Tommy cried. "Bigger!"

"We still need two more snowballs," Molly pointed out. "Once we add those, he'll be plenty big."

"But I want him to be extra big," Tommy cried.

"Hey Luce?" Molly called out to her sister. "A little help?"

Unfortunately, Lucy and Vanessa were now engaged in the activity of making snow angels and uninclined to build another snowman.

With a sigh, Molly continued to push the snowball around, making it grow larger and larger until finally Tommy was satisfied.

"Now put it next to their snowman," he directed.

"How am I supposed to do that?" Molly demanded. "It's bigger than you. I can't pick that up."

"Then roll it some more," Tommy ordered.

Molly sighed but did as instructed. In no time, the bottom snowball was in place, and two more snowballs were in progress.

"We can't make these snowballs as big," Molly warned him. "Because we actually have to pick these ones up to get them to stack nicely."

"That's why the bottom one is so big," Tommy explained.

"Aha!" Molly said. "Good forward thinking."

By the time Audrey called them in to wash up before dinner, Molly and Tommy's snowman towered high above Lucy and Vanessa's snowman.

"Ours is better," Tommy said, sticking his tongue out at his sister.

"Well ours is nicer," Vanessa replied. "Yours is all bumpy."

"Hey!" Molly cried. "I did my best out there."

"Alright, settle down," Audrey insisted. "Your snowmen are equally as good as each other."

"This really isn't the place for diplomacy," Molly said.

"It's not diplomacy," Audrey said. "I'm telling the truth."

Dinner was good. It was quieter than usual without Uncle Thomas and Aunt Abigail and Molly wondered if Tommy and Vanessa were sad that their parents weren't there. After dinner, they went into the living room to open presents, and then it was time for Tommy to go to sleep.

"Thank you for today," Audrey said to Molly once Tommy was taken care of. "I appreciate your help with your cousin."

"Your welcome," Molly said. If she'd had her way she would have ignored her cousins and studied all day, so she wasn't entirely sure why her mother was thanking her.

"Why don't you go and study for a while then," Audrey suggested. "I think Lucy and Vanessa can manage to entertain themselves."

"Thanks," Molly said.

"And listen," Audrey added before Molly disappeared. "I'll try and make sure you have some time to yourself tomorrow. Maybe I'll have the kids join me in the kitchen to bake cookies or something."

Molly smiled. "I'd appreciate that," she said.

"Well I think you've earned it," her mother replied. "I'm proud of you."


	15. January Year 2

_Year 2: Open Your Mind_

Chapter 15: January 2016

Though the Christmas holidays hadn't been terrible, it was a relief to be back at Hogwarts. If anything else, Molly was glad to be out from under her mother's constant supervision. It was exhausting trying to always please her mother while not falling behind in her studies. Molly couldn't understand why her mother didn't take school as seriously as she did.

"Good to have you back, Molly," Sarah greeted her when she arrived in the Great Hall for the welcome back feast. "It really wasn't the same around here without you and Debbie."

"I bet you and Julie were able to study plenty though," Molly replied grumpily. "I barely had time to do much more than my holiday homework and some rudimentary revision. I feel completely unprepared for the second term."

"You thought you were unprepared last year, and you still managed to get straight O's," Sarah pointed out. "I'm sure it's not as bad as you think."

"You got straight O's as well," Molly pointed out. "Who's to say your O's weren't higher than my O's."

"And O is an O is an O," Sarah said. "There's no different levels of O's."

Molly shook her head. "That's what you think," she muttered.

MmMmMmMmMmM

The next day was the start of classes. Though Molly could have benefitted from a few free days to properly revise from the first term before starting back, she couldn't deny that she loved being back in class. In transfiguration they were working on animate to inanimate transformations. In charms, they were learning about size charms. In defence, they were starting a unit on banshees. In herbology, they were working with leaping toadstools. In potions, they were learning about the theory behind the girding potion. In history, they were continuing their exploration of wizarding politics, and in astronomy, they were finally starting to work with real star charts.

One afternoon, just as every other afternoon, Molly and her friends were making their way up to the fifth floor after completing their last class of the day. Molly had a short essay to write about banshees for defence, as well as a theoretical potions assignment to complete. Not to mention the astronomy assignment that she still hadn't finished.

"I'm going to start with defence, I think," Julie declared. "Even though the units on dealing with dark creatures aren't as interesting as the ones on duelling and defensive spells, it's still more interesting than theoretical potions."

"I think I'll start with defence too," Molly agreed. "If only to get it out of the way."

"I still have to finish my herbology reading," Sarah spoke up. "I got so carried away with my astronomy assignment last night that I never did it."

"Good thing we didn't have herbology today," Debbie commented.

"Oh, trust me," Sarah said seriously. "If we'd had herbology today, I wouldn't have let myself postpone the reading."

"At least your astronomy assignment is done," Molly said bitterly. "Mine's taking forever. So many minute measurements."

"It's fun though, don't you agree?" Julie asked.

"Oh definitely," Molly nodded. "Just really time consuming. And I don't feel like I'm learning too much taking measurement after measurement. It could have been shorter, maybe with another component added on that would have been more interesting."

"True," Sarah agreed. "But I am glad I'm done."

The girls reached the door to their study room and Molly extended her hand to open the door. When she turned her wrist though, she met resistance.

"It's locked," Molly said in surprise.

"Locked?" Debbie frowned. "How is that possible?"

"I don't know," Molly replied. "Nobody uses the room except for us. But it's locked."

"Let me try," Julia insisted, pushing her way to the front of the group and wrapping her hand around the doorknob. When it didn't budge for her either, she frowned at it in confusion.

"Do you think someone could be inside?" Sarah wondered, stepping forward and knocking on the door. "Hello?" she called out. There was no answer.

"Oh for goodness' sake," Debbie said, rolling her eyes. She produced her wand and pointed it at the door. " _Alohomora_ ," she said clearly and confidently.

When nothing happened, she began to frown too.

"Why didn't that work?" she wondered. "It should have worked."

"Why is it locked in the first place?" Molly threw back at her.

"Especially if there's nobody inside," Sarah added.

"Nobody even knows about this room," Julie said. "Except for your cousins, Molly."

"Technically Teddy's not actually my cousin," Molly clarified. "Even though he may as well be."

"Really not the time, Molly," Debbie said.

"We need to figure out how to get back into the study room," Sarah agreed.

"Personally I'm more concerned about who locked it in the first place," Julie said. "Do you think it could have been the Headmaster?"

"No way," Molly nodded, sure it wasn't him. "If he'd changed his mind about our using the space, he'd have summoned us to his office like last time. This has to be someone else."

"And what about your cousins, or whatever they are?" Julie asked. "Would they do this?"

"No," Molly shook her head. "They'd have no reason to. And if they had a problem with me, they'd come to me outright, not do something like this behind my back."

"So then who could it be?" Debbie frowned.

"It has to be someone able to cast a spell that we can't undo," Sarah realized. "So that pretty much rules out all the underclassmen. They don't teach that kind of magic until sixth and seventh year."

"Do you think it was a student?" Julie asked.

Sarah shrugged. "If someone came across the room and saw what we were using it for, they could have gotten angry and locked us out."

"That makes no sense," Julie shook her head. "The logical thing to do would have been to report us. And if we'd been reported, Headmaster Slinkhard would have rescinded our permission to use the room."

"Yeah, I guess it seems kind of weird that locking the door would be the first reaction of someone coming across the room," Sarah agreed.

"Not to mention most students probably wouldn't think to care," Debbie pointed out. "Most likely if they just happened across the room, they'd have carried on without giving it a second thought."

"So then could it have been a professor?" Molly wondered, thinking logically. After all, the professors were the only people left in the building apart from students. "Or a faculty member?" she added, thinking of Madam Eldridge and the other non-teaching staff members.

"But why would they lock us out?" Julie asked, still coming back around to that same point. "Why wouldn't they report us, or confront us, or leave a note or something?"

"Maybe someone's playing a practical joke on us," Debbie suggested. "Maybe it has nothing to do with being angry or upset that we're using the room, and someone just wanted to mess with us."

"Who would do that?" Julie frowned.

Molly thought of her uncle George. When he'd been at school, he'd pulled all sorts of pranks. It wouldn't be unreasonable to assume there were some pranksters attending Hogwarts now.

"You'd be surprised," Molly said. "Some people just like to cause mayhem."

"I think we should ask Professor Longbottom," Sarah decided. "If he didn't do it, he may at least be able to reverse the spell."

The other girls agreed, and together, they trooped down to their herbology professor's office on the first floor.

"I'm sorry girls," Professor Longbottom said when they explained their predicament. "But you're going to have to work this one out on your own."

"But we can't get the door open," Julie insisted. "Someone's charmed it shut. What are we supposed to do?"

"I can't get involved," Professor Longbottom apologized. "Technically you shouldn't even have access to the room. Headmaster Slinkhard was kind enough to look the other way this year while we search for a more permanent solution, but that grace only extends to far."

"But if you could just come and reverse the spell, then everything would be fine," Julie insisted. "It would take fifteen minutes, there and back."

"I'm sorry girls," Professor Longbottom shrugged. "But I have a great deal of work to get through. But you're smart. I'm sure you'll figure out a solution on your own."

Defeated, the girls exited their professor's office and aimlessly stood in the hall, wondering what their next step should be.

"We need to get started on our homework," Debbie realized. "It's going to be dinnertime soon, and the longer we do nothing, the more time we're wasting."

"But all our stuff is in the study room!" Sarah protested. "How are we going to get our work done without access to our textbooks or our notes?"

"We'll figure it out," Debbie declared. "And as soon as we have time, we'll start researching ways to get that door open."

The girls agreed that Debbie's plan was their best option at the moment, and they trooped up to the library on the second floor to get started on their work. Since they'd had defence and potions that day, all the girls had copies of their textbooks and recent notes for those classes. Nobody had a copy of their herbology textbook, but Sarah was able to locate a copy on the shelves in the library, so she was able to do her reading.

The only real problem was with astronomy. Molly, Julie, and Debbie had all left their partially-completed assignments in their study room. The bright side was that the assignment wasn't due the next day, so they could put it off if necessary.

Once the homework they could complete was done, the girls set to researching unlocking spells they could try. Unfortunately, curfew crept up on them quickly and they reluctantly had to leave the library and return to their respective dorms.

The next day, the four girls discovered another problem with the inaccessibility of their study room. The materials they'd need for class that day were all locked away too. They were almost ashamed in their first period transfiguration class when Professor Tonks instructed everyone to open their books to page one hundred and twenty seven, and none of them could comply. All four of them lost house points for being unprepared, and Molly ended up having to share a textbook with Flora, much to her dismay.

Second period was defence, which they'd had the previous day, so they had their materials for that class. After lunch though, the second years had charms and then herbology and they lost more points in both classes. It was humiliating. The Gryffindors and Ravenclaws kept sending them dirty looks and Molly felt her cheeks heat up in humiliation. She never lost house points.

At the end of the day, the girls returned to the fifth floor to try the door again, and when that failed, slunk down to the library to do what homework they could. They'd been assigned a short herbology essay, which they were only able to write by sharing the single library copy of the textbook. As for their charms essay, they had to improvise, because the library's copy of that textbook had been unfortunately checked out. Molly found that she was upset about this – there should be a rule about checking out class textbooks from the library. They should only be allowed to be consulted inside the library, in order to give everyone equal opportunities to use them.

They hadn't been assignment any defence homework, which was too bad because it was the one class they had had that day for which they had all their materials. And their transfiguration homework was to practice the spell they were working on, which mercifully they didn't need their textbook to do, though their notes would have been nice.

By the time dinner came around, the girls had already finished their homework for the day. Of course, they still had their astronomy assignments to complete, but they still didn't have access to them. The girls decided to skip dinner in favor of doing more research on unlocking spells. Madam Maxwell even directed them to some books she thought would be the most useful for their purposes.

"I think I found something!" Sarah exclaimed suddenly, breaking the silence that had permeated the air in the library thus far. "Look at this page…" she turned the page so her friends could lean closer and read. "It's a spell for unlocking doors that have been sealed with anti-unlocking charms."

"It's an anti-anti-unlocking spell," Molly nodded, impressed. "Good job Sarah."

"If this doesn't work, I don't know what will," Julie agreed. "Let's try it."

The girls decided to take the book with them, just in case. Sarah checked it out at the front counter with Madam Maxwell, and then the four of them climbed up to the fifth floor, hopeful.

When they turned the corner into the hallway where their study room was situated, the girls came to an abrupt stop. Directly ahead of them was their study room, and in front of the door was Peeves, tinkering with the lock.

"Hey!" Julie cried angrily, marching towards the school poltergeist. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded.

Peeves spun around and started to laugh.

"Girlsies are heresies!" he exclaimed in his usual bad English. "Whoopie!"

"Yes, we're here," Julie agreed. "Now tell us what you've done to our door. Are you the one that locked it the other day?"

"Girlsies will never get insidesies," Peeves said as he floated up to the ceiling, out of Julie's immediate reach.

"Tell us what you did, or we'll report you," Julie demanded.

"Peeves isn't scared of a few little girlsies," Peeves insisted.

"Okay," Julie nodded. "But aren't you scared of what the Headmaster might do to you?"

Peeves pretended to think about this. He placed a finger to his chin and scrunched up his face as if in thought. Then he removed his finger, smiled widely, and blew a raspberry.

Julie sighed, shaking her head.

"Well it doesn't matter," Sarah said, stepping forward with the library book in hand. "Because we found the counter-spell to whatever you did."

"You can try," Peeves said. "But nobody is smarter than Peeves!"

Ignoring the floating buffoon, Sarah put the book down on the ground and pointed her wand at the door. She cast the spell and the rest of the girls watched on hopefully, but nothing happened.

"Let me try," Julie insisted, pushing Sarah out of the way. She raised her own wand and cast the spell, but again nothing happened.

Molly and Debbie both took turns of their own, but the girls quickly realized that it wasn't them – it was the spell that wasn't right.

"We must have been looking for the wrong thing," Sarah sighed. "We were looking for something to counteract wand magic. We need to look for something to counteract poltergeist magic."

"Is there such a thing?" Debbie frowned.

Sarah shrugged. "Probably," she replied.

The girls turned to go. Now that they knew who had locked them out, they knew what they needed to look for to get back in.

"Wait!" Peeves called after them. "Where are you going?"

The girls stopped and turned back around.

"To the library," Julie replied. "To figure out how to open the door."

Peeves pouted. "But you have to stay here and figure it out," he whined. "That's how it works."

"Maybe for you," Julie retorted. "But for us, the library is always the best place to get answers."

The girls made to leave again, but Peeves stopped them with another shout.

"Wait!" he cried.

Julie practically growled as she turned around.

" _What_?" she demanded. "What could you possibly want?"

"Girlsies can't leave," Peeves insisted. "If girlsies leave, Peeves will be all alone."

Molly frowned. "What do you care if you're all alone?" she asked. "Aren't you usually alone?"

Peeves nodded sadly. "Peeves gets lonely sometimes," he sighed.

Molly found herself feeling bad for the poltergeist. Maybe the reason he was always pulling pranks and things was that he was trying to draw attention. It must be tough to be the only poltergeist in the whole school. The students mostly hated him, because he was always messing with them. And Molly knew the ghosts disliked him.

"I'm sorry Peeves," she said, walking towards him. "It must be hard, being alone all the time."

Peeves nodded sadly.

"But, you know… if you want to make friends, locking people out of their study spaces really isn't the way to do that," Molly pointed out. "Because now, we're all just mad at you."

"Girlsies are mad at Peeves?" Peeves asked sadly. "Peeves was only playing a trick."

Molly nodded. "But it wasn't a very nice trick," she said.

"If Peeves unlocks the door… girlsies will like Peeves?" Peeves wondered.

Molly nodded. "Yes, if you unlock the door, we'll be very happy," Molly nodded.

Peeves thought about this seriously. "Okay," he agreed.

He floated back down to the ground and fiddled with the door for a moment. There was a click, and suddenly the door swung open.

"Thank you Peeves," Molly said gratefully. "That was really nice of you."

"We can be friends now?" Peeves wondered.

Molly nodded. "Sure," she agreed. "We can be friends now."

"Yay!" Peeves exclaimed, floating back up to the ceiling and looping around a few times in his excitement. "Peeves has friends!"

He disappeared from view and Molly turned to face her friends. They all stared at each other for a moment before bursting out laughing.

"That was so weird," Debbie said.

"I agree," Sarah nodded. "Totally bizarre."

"At least we can get back into the study room," Julie gestured to the open door.

Eagerly, the four girls hurried inside and shut the door behind them. Molly went straight for her desk and felt immediately better when she sat down in front of all her notes.

"This feels much better," she sighed.

"Totally," Debbie agreed.

Molly started thumbing through her notes, searching for her astronomy assignment. It was the only thing she still had pending and she wanted to get it over with. As she located it, and then produced her measuring instruments, she found her thoughts roaming back to Peeves.

"I feel bad for him," she sighed.

"Who?" Julie frowned, already having started with her own assignment.

"Peeves," Molly clarified. "I think we should petition the Headmaster to have another poltergeist brought to Hogwarts."

"Isn't one enough?" Sarah asked. "Look at what he managed to do to us. Now imagine if there were two of them."

"I think if Peeves had a poltergeist friend, then he wouldn't need to be so… destructive and intrusive all the time," Molly said. "He wouldn't need to mess with us to get attention, because he'd have someone already."

"I don't know," Debbie said. "It could be a good idea, but it could also be a really bad one."

"Well I'm going to write the Headmaster," Molly declared. "I promised him we could be friends if he opened the door, and this is me being his friend. I'm going to try to get him a poltergeist friend."

Pushing her astronomy assignment to the side, Molly got out a fresh sheet of parchment and spread it out over her desk. Then she dipped her quill into a fresh pot of ink and began.

 _Dear Headmaster Slinkhard…_


	16. February Year 2

_Year 2: Open Your Mind_

Chapter 16: February 2016

Molly's letter was a success. Headmaster Slinkhard agreed that Peeves could benefit from the company of a fellow poltergeist and had issued a request to the Ministry to have one transferred. Molly was thrilled, but her friends didn't see why she was so concerned.

"Look, an occupied Peeves will be better for everyone," Molly insisted. "He'll be less bothersome and destructive. You'll see. Hogwarts will be better off."

In addition to this development, a notice went up on the common room noticeboards about halfway into February announcing the annual school-wide snowball fight. Molly wouldn't even have thought twice about it, until Debbie brought it up.

"We should do it," she said one day. "Doesn't it sound like fun?"

"Uh… no," Molly said, making a face. What was Debbie thinking?

"Actually, I'm with Debbie," Julie agreed. "I think it could be a good time."

"Seriously?" Molly frowned. "It's throwing snow. It's hitting people with balls of snow. Where's the fun in that?"

"Well it's a competition, see?" Sarah explained. "So the fun is in winning."

"Exactly," Julie nodded. "And a good competition is healthy now and then."

"Well I'm happy enough just competing to be top of the class," Molly declared. "Which is a challenge given my opponents." She referred to her three friends, hoping that the compliment would deter them from their newfound interest in snowball fighting.

"It's a different kind of competition," Debbie said. "That's more of a long-term commitment. This is a one-time, blow off some steam kind of thing."

"I don't have any steam to blow off though," Molly frowned.

"Sure you do," Julie insisted. "Everyone does."

"Alright," Molly agreed. "But I don't need to blow it off physically. I'm an intellectual being."

"That doesn't mean it doesn't do you good to just run around sometimes," Julie said. "I mean, all we do all day is sit around. Aren't you worried about getting lazy?"

"With all the stairs we have to climb everyday?" Molly raised her eyebrows. "Not likely."

"Come on Molly," Debbie pleaded. "Come participate in the snowball fight. We can have our own mini-competition. You and Sarah against me and Debbie."

Molly adamantly shook her head. "You guys go, but I have no desire to run around in the freezing cold and get soaked through my core."

"But it won't be any fun without you," Sarah complained. "I won't have anyone on my team."

"You'll have the rest of Gryffindor house," Molly corrected her. "I think you'll have plenty of teammates."

"Well sure, but none that are my friends," Sarah amended.

Molly shrugged, unsure what she was supposed to say. If she didn't want to participate in a snowball fight, she shouldn't feel forced to.

MmMmMmMmMmM

Throughout the remainder of the week, Molly's friends continued to try and pester her into coming down to the snowball fight. Molly continued to refuse until finally she couldn't help it and found herself yelling that if they didn't stop bringing it up, she'd spill ink all over their history notes. Though they knew she'd never do that, if only because she knew they'd retaliate, they understood the emotions behind her outburst and backed off.

When Saturday, the day of the snowball fight, arrived, Molly bid her friends goodbye as they left the Great Hall after lunch to change into their winter gear. Molly headed up to the study room alone, intending to get a head start on her charms essay for Professor Flitwick.

The study room felt empty without the other girls. Molly was reminded of those days when they were taking their flying lessons over again and she'd spent a few afternoons up here alone. At least then they'd all been in agreement over the arrangement. Now, Molly felt the tension between her and her friends. And she was frustrated. How come they always wanted to do things she didn't want to do? First it was re-taking the flying lessons and now with the snowball fight. It was fine for friends to have different interests, but why was Molly always the odd one out.

With a sigh, Molly realized she no longer wanted to be in the study room alone. It was only reminding her of her friends, and she didn't want to be thinking about them right now.

Molly gathered up her things and placed them in her bag before heading out. She could go to the library or the common room. Normally, she'd choose the library, but with most of the school outside throwing snow, she figured the common room would be relatively empty. And she honestly didn't feel like being alone in the cavernous library.

When Molly reached Gryffindor Tower, she saw that she was right. There was a scattering of upperclassmen lounging on the couches, but there weren't being too loud. And the common room was devoid of anyone under fifth year, save for Molly, so she knew choosing the common room had been a good idea. And it wouldn't remind her of her friends, because they could never study here as a group.

Molly chose a table in the corner, where she would be most removed from the rest of the room's occupants and spread out her charms things around her, trying to recreate the feel of her workspace in the study room. It wasn't perfect, but it would do.

MmMmMmMmMmM

"Molly?"

Molly turned to see Victoire tentatively approaching her at her makeshift study space in the common room.

"Hey Victoire," Molly greeted her older cousin.

"Is everything alright?" Victoire wondered. "Don't you usually study… you know… _somewhere else_?"

Molly found Victoire's wording amusing, but appreciated her discretion about the study room.

"Yeah," she shrugged. "I didn't really want to be there today."

"Is everything all right with your friends?" Victoire wondered. "Did you have a fight?"

"Not exactly," Molly shook her head.

"What does that mean?" Victoire asked, concern in her voice. She sat down next to Molly and Molly knew she wasn't going to leave without an explanation.

"It's no big deal," Molly shrugged. "They're just all down at the snowball fight and I didn't want to be in the room alone."

"Why aren't you at the snowball fight?" Victoire wondered.

"Why aren't you?" Molly countered.

"I suppose that's fair," Victoire allowed. "Except none of my friends are down there and yours are."

Molly sighed. "Fine," she muttered. "Because it's a waste of time? Because it's pointless? Because I don't want to be covered in snow for no reason?"

"It wouldn't be for no reason if you were having fun," Victoire pointed out.

"Right, except it wouldn't be any fun," Molly replied. "Not for me."

"Even if you were playing with all your friends?" Victoire asked.

Molly shrugged yet again.

"Alright, well look," Victoire said. "Maybe I'm totally off here, and if I am then that's fine and I'll leave. But I think the reason you don't want to be in that study room is that you really wish you were down there with your friends and you regret telling them no."

"That's not it at all," Molly shook her head. "I'm glad I didn't go. I'm just upset that they did."

"And why is that?" Victoire wondered.

Molly thought for a moment. "Because it's like they're always doing things I don't want to do. I like hanging out with them, but they never want to do the things that I'm interested in. Unless it's something we're all interested in. Does that make sense?"

"Sort of," Victoire nodded. "What sort of things do you want to do?"

"Well I like to study," Molly said.

Victoire nodded. "But don't you already all do that, like… all the time."

Molly nodded, seeing Victoire's point.

"But it's just… when we have a free Saturday afternoon – like today," Molly said. "They all want to run around and throw snow at each other, while I'd be perfectly happy having a wizard's chess tournament or something."

"Well have you ever told them that?" Victoire wondered.

Molly realized she hadn't. "No," she shook her head.

"So then how are they supposed to know that's something you'd want to do?" Victoire asked.

"I guess they couldn't," Molly nodded. "But they wouldn't want to anyway, or one of them would have suggested it."

"Or maybe they're all thinking it, but nobody's brought it up yet," Victoire suggested. "I think it's worth suggesting. If they're really your friends, they'll want to do the things you want to do, the same way sometimes you do the things that they want to do."

Molly nodded. "Except… except I don't do the things they want to do," she realized. Maybe she was the bad friend, always saying no to things. Her friends were trying to include her. Molly was the one excluding herself. "Thanks Vic," Molly said, giving her cousin a hug as she threw her things into her bag and hurried up to her dorm. If she moved quickly, she could make it out for the end of the snowball fight.

MmMmMmMmMmM

"Molly?" Sarah gasped when Molly crawled up behind her. The snowball fight was still going strong – it seemed that Molly hadn't been too late after all.

"Hey Sarah," Molly smiled. "I decided to come after all."

"I'm glad you did," Sarah said, reaching to give Molly a hug. "Now cover me. I'm going after Debbie and Julie."

Molly grabbed a handful of snowballs and cradled them in her left hand. With her right, she wrapped her hand around one of the balls and then peeked out from behind the massive Gryffindor snow fortress as Sarah made a beeline for the Ravenclaw wall.

Julie and Debbie appeared from around the side, screaming and throwing snowballs at Sarah as they did. They thought they had Sarah outnumbered, but Molly was ready.

She threw the first snowball, hitting Debbie squarely in the chest. Before Debbie had time to process where it had come from, Molly had launched a second snowball straight for Julie.

"It's an ambush!" Julie screamed as the second snowball broke against her shoulder.

They retreated, and Molly ran out from behind the safety of the shelter, joining with Sarah as the two Gryffindors pelted their Ravenclaw friends with snowball after snowball.

"Molly!" Debbie cried, catching sight of her second attacker. "What are you doing here?"

"I changed my mind," Molly replied. "I came down as fast as I could."

"You'd better watch out!" Julie warned, taking refuge once again behind the Ravenclaw wall. "As soon as we make more snowballs, we're coming after you!"

Sarah and Molly ran back to the safety of their own fortress, having used up all the snowballs in their arsenal. Frantically, the two girls scraped together some more snow, preparing for a second attack.

MmMmMmMmMmM

The game lasted about an hour more, and then Gryffindor were declared the winners.

"We would've beaten you guys if Molly hadn't shown up halfway through the game," Julie grumbled as they trooped back up to the seventh floor to change before dinner. "There should be a rule about that – no joining the game after it's already started."

"You're just sore losers," Sarah threw back. "We won fair and square. And don't tell me you're not glad Molly decided to play."

"You're right," Debbie nodded. "It was definitely more fun with all four of us."

Shockingly, Molly found herself agreeing. Though she'd been convinced it would be a waste of time and that she couldn't possibly have fun throwing snow, she'd quite enjoyed her afternoon. And when her friends asked if she'd regretted coming to play, she could honestly say that she didn't. Not one bit.

MmMmMmMmMmM

Back in her dorm, Molly was relieved to be able to change into some warm clothes. As much fun as the snowball fight had been, she was freezing and needed to warm up. She pulled on her thickest socks and warmest sweater, hoping that it would speed the warming process. She also toweled her hair dry and then pulled it up into a bun to keep it from dampening her back.

Ready for dinner, Molly and Sarah left Gryffindor Tower and began to make their way back to the Great Hall, where they'd be meeting up with Julie and Debbie. As they stepped out onto the Grand Staircase though, a gush of water fell right over both their heads, soaking them even more than they had been outside.

"Wha - ?" Molly cried out, looking around frantically for the culprit.

She looked up and discovered that it had been Peeves who'd dropped the bucket of water over her and Sarah. And he wasn't alone.

"Peeves!" Molly cried in outrage. "What did you do that for? I thought we were friends!"

"Peeves doesn't need girlsies for friends anymore," Peeves said. He gestured to the figure to his right – a female poltergeist from the looks of her. Probably the one Headmaster Slinkhard had requested to have transferred to keep Peeves company. "Peeves has Meeva now."

Molly shook her head in disbelief. "But Peeves," she said. "Now that you have Meeva, you can stop pulling pranks on students."

Peeves shook his head, but it was Meeva who replied.

"Peeves can't stop," Meeva said. "Peeves is too funny." Then Meeva blew a raspberry.

Molly turned to Sarah with a terrified look in her eye.

"What have I done?"

MmMmMmMmMmM

After changing clothes yet again, Molly and Sarah met up with Julie and Debbie at the Ravenclaw table in the Great Hall to recount their adventures with Peeves and Meeva.

"Molly, I told you this was a bad idea," Julie said. "He's only going to get worse now that he's got Meeva to impress."

"You think that's what it is?" Molly wondered. "He's trying to impress her?"

"Of course he is," Debbie nodded. "It's basic psychology."

"But they're poltergeists," Molly pointed out. "Does psychology apply to them?"

"Of course," Debbie said, seeming almost offended. "They're still people."

"I wonder if Headmaster Slinkhard would send Meeva back," Molly mused. "One Peeves is enough. We don't need a second one."

"He couldn't," Julie shook her head. "Not after all the trouble he went to in order to bring her here."

Molly nodded. Julie was right. It looked like they were stuck with Meeva.

"I'm sorry guys," she sighed.

"It's fine," Sarah replied. "We'll manage."

"Yeah," Debbie nodded. "Hogwarts has done fine with Peeves all these years. I'm sure we'll be able to handle Meeva too."

MmMmMmMmMmM

The next weekend found the four girls in their study room as usual, revising their notes. They had completed all their pending assignments, leaving them with some free time to go over past material.

"I'm bored," Sarah announced, putting down her potions notes dramatically.

"Try switching to transfiguration," Debbie suggested. "That's what I'm revising."

"No, I'm tired of revising," Sarah sighed. "I need a break."

Suddenly, Molly thought of Victoire's suggestion the previous weekend that she propose a wizard's chess tournament. She felt her chest tighten with fear as she contemplated bringing it up, but decided to use some of her Gryffindor courage and just go for it.

"We could play a game of wizard's chess," she said in a quiet voice.

"Hey, that's not a bad idea," Julie said, looking up from her history notes. "It takes logic, reasoning, concentration… it would be a great way to expand our mental capacities in a fun and interesting way."

Spurred on by Julie's approval, Molly continued. "Maybe we could have a tournament?" she suggested. "I don't know… it could be fun."

"Yeah, a little friendly competition is always good," Debbie agreed. "I'm in."

"Me too," Sarah smiled, shoving her notes to the side. "Has anyone got a board?"

"Actually, I have one," Molly confessed. She'd started carrying it around after her conversation with Victoire, looking for the right time to bring the topic up.

"Great!" Julie said. "So Molly, how about you and Sarah play first, and then Debbie and I will play each other. And then the winners go up against one another."

Molly nodded, liking the sound of that. "Sounds like a plan," she said, setting the board in the center of their desk configuration and setting up the pieces.

Victoire had been right.


	17. March Year 2

_Year 2: Open Your Mind_

Chapter 17: March 2016

Molly knew it was only a matter of time before she got assigned another group project. She dreaded them. Group projects meant having to deal with classmates who were not as smart, not as motivated, and not as dedicated as Molly was towards school. When they were allowed to choose their partners, it wasn't so bad. Usually it was either pairs or groups of four, so Molly and her friends could pair up with each other. But when the Professors made the groups, it was always madness.

Molly was pretty sure her Professors made the worst groups possible on purpose. That, or else it was just always a really bad luck of the draw. For some reason, Molly always got paired with the worst teammates – like that time she and Flora had been partnered together in Potions class, or the time she'd had to write a paper with Jesse Davis from Slytherin.

She wasn't sure whether her Professors were trying to make her fail, or whether they were trying to do that thing where they paired the best students with the worst students in order to get the good students to help the bad students improve. If it was the latter, then it definitely wasn't working.

So when Professor Longbottom announced a group paper on mandrakes in class one afternoon, Molly found herself banging her head on her desk in frustration. She knew before he said so that it would be in assigned groups – she could always tell by the Professor's tone of voice. They always announced it in an almost apologetic voice when they were assigning the groups. It was as if they knew the students hated it, but they were doing it anyway.

Molly's group was announced. The papers were in groups of four and she was assigned to work with Brady Hanson from Hufflepuff, Jordan Bletchley from Slytherin, and to her horror – Amber Macdonald, one of her dormmates. She found herself wishing Professor Longbottom had assigned the teams by house – at least then she'd have a Ravenclaw to work with. As it was, she had a pretty miserable group.

Towards the end of class, Professor Longbottom gave everyone time to confer with their groups. Molly made her way over to Jordan Bletchley's desk, where it seemed the rest of her team was congregating, and immediately took charge.

"So we have two weeks to do the assignment," Molly declared. "Which isn't a lot of time. We should really get started as soon as possible. How about we meet up in the library after last period to get a handle on how we want to do this?"

"Can't," Brady shook his head. "I've got choir practice."

"Dude, you're in the choir?" Jordan asked. "That's totally lame."

Molly ignored Jordan. "Okay, what about the rest of you?" she wondered.

Jordan made a face. "Yeah, I'm busy too," he said.

"Doing what?" Molly demanded.

"Anything but Herbology," Jordan replied.

Molly sighed. "Come on guys, we need to take this seriously."

"It's just a dumb Herbology paper," Amber pointed out. "There's no reason to get so worked up about it. I vote we meet up Sunday afternoon."

"Sunday?" Molly screeched. "But it's only Tuesday! That's five days away! You want us to waste five days doing nothing?"

"It's not like we're going to work on it, even if we met up sooner," Amber said. "We've got that potions essay to write, not to mention all the reading Professor Tonks assigned in transfiguration."

"I'm with Amber," Brady agreed. "We can meet up on Sunday and divide the paper, and then we have a week to do our parts, and we can collate it the following Sunday, and then we have a day for general editing and stuff."

"No," Molly shook her head. "We can't leave it that late, it's crazy!"

"That's hardly leaving it late," Jordan said. "Leaving it late would be if we only put it all together Tuesday morning before class. Sunday is perfectly reasonable, if not a little early for my taste."

"You guys can't be serious," Molly insisted.

Her three teammates all exchanged confused looks.

"Yeah, we are actually," Brady said. "Anyway, we've all agreed, so either deal with it and move on, or else you can argue with yourself. I'm going to lunch."

The other two nodded and followed Brady out of the classroom, leaving Molly completely dumbstruck. How had she ended up with the team of the most epic procrastinators in the whole school?

MmMmMmMmMmM

That afternoon, Molly tried to focus on her other work. She wrote her potions essay and finished her transfiguration reading. She did her defence assignment, and even practiced charms for a while. But she couldn't help but think about herbology. Her friends were all furiously researching various aspects of mandrakes while Molly slowly ran out of things to do. It was maddening.

MmMmMmMmMmM

The next afternoon was even worse. She was assigned a short history paper, so she started with that. Then she completed an assignment for transfiguration and did a bit of reading for potions. When she finished with that, she practiced charms some more, but quickly realized that she didn't need it. Her friends were still working on their herbology papers, which Molly couldn't do, so she grabbed her astronomy textbook and started to read ahead, hoping to distract herself.

MmMmMmMmMmM

On Thursday, Molly was assigned a small paper in charms, and another assignment in defence. She also had some reading to do for history, but she completed that in no time. Meanwhile, her friends were significantly behind Molly in terms of their work for other classes, because almost all their homework time was being devoted to the herbology paper. Molly was jealous and decided that just because her group didn't want to meet yet didn't mean she couldn't start doing some research into the topic. So she chose some books from the library and started reading up on mandrakes.

MmMmMmMmMmM

On Friday, Molly didn't bother getting her other work out of the way first. She had the whole weekend to do it after all. Instead she spent the whole night researching for herbology and even started making a list of important points they should cover in the paper – an outline of sorts.

MmMmMmMmMmM

On Saturday, Molly was getting antsy. She knew her group was meeting the next day, so she decided to get all her other work out of the way beforehand. There wasn't much. She did some reading, completed a couple of assignments, and wrote another very short paper, but she had finished it all before lunch.

After lunch, Molly decided that it couldn't hurt to expand her outline a bit. After all, it was pretty sparse and her teammates would probably need more to go on than what she'd written. Especially since they weren't top students – not even close. So Molly expanded from just listing the topics that needed to be covered and also outlined the arguments that should be explored in each of the sections of the paper. She named the authors of the chapters and articles that would be most helpful, all of which she'd read over the past two days. As the afternoon wore on, she found herself filling out the arguments further, explaining them in her own words so that her teammates would understand them – who knew whether they would understand just by reading directly from the library books?

MmMmMmMmMmM

Sunday morning, Molly had nothing to do but work on the herbology paper. She looked at what she had so far and saw that she had quite a bit. In fact, if she just added in a few transition words and some formal citations, the body of the essay was pretty much written. It still needed an introduction and a conclusion though, and Molly knew she didn't trust any of her teammates to write those – they were arguably two of the most important paragraphs in the whole essay. The introduction had to be compelling enough, and informative enough to give an idea of what was to come, and also to interest the reader to read further. The conclusion had to sum the arguments up succinctly without simply repeating them in a synthetic fashion. So Molly wrote them out, wording them so that they were a good representation of what was in the paper itself.

"What's that?" Sarah wondered, looking over at Molly's desk.

"My Herbology paper," Molly replied.

"I thought you weren't meeting your group until this afternoon," Sarah frowned.

Molly shrugged sheepishly. "I guess I got carried away."

MmMmMmMmMmM

That afternoon, Molly went to the library to meet up with her group and show them her work. She was sure they would appreciate what she'd done. After all, they hadn't seemed to want to do the paper anyway, and now they wouldn't have to. Molly had written the whole thing.

When they finally did arrive, Molly was happy to find that they were all on board with using the paper Molly had already written.

"You rock Molly," Jordan said, patting Molly on the back. "I should always partner with you."

Molly wasn't so sure about that, but she was glad that she wouldn't have to deal with her group any longer. They agreed to have Molly recopy the paper, since her penmanship was the best, and made plans to meet up at breakfast on Tuesday morning so they could all sign their names at the top.

MmMmMmMmMmM

The day the assignment was due came and went. Molly happily handed it in on behalf of her group, confident that they would get an O. Her research had been sound, and she'd fixed all her typos and grammatical errors before recopying it, so she knew there would be no mistakes in that department. All they had to do now was wait for their results, which could sometimes take as long or even longer than the length of the assignment.

One day, as Professor Longbottom wrapped up the lesson, he made a surprising announcement.

"And before you all go to lunch, if Molly, Brady, Amber, and Jordan could just stay behind, I have something I want to talk to you about."

Molly wondered what this could be about. Had their essay been that good? Was he going to commend them on a job well done? Was he perhaps going to ask permission to read their paper out loud to the class, as an example of the level he expected the rest of the class to be at in their writing?

Molly's teammates seemed nervous and Molly wondered why. Didn't they know she had written them a good paper? It wasn't as if Professor Longbottom was holding them back because they'd failed.

"Ladies, gentlemen," Professor Longbottom said once the rest of the students had left. "I have something very serious I want to discuss with you."

The tone of her professor's voice seemed off. He didn't sound proud or impressed. He sounded almost… disappointed. Had their essay somehow gotten mixed up with another group's essay? An less good essay maybe? An essay that had received a D or even a T?

"I've read through your essay, and I've reviewed some of your previous work, and something very glaring came to my attention," Professor Longbottom said. "The entire paper had a very uniform style to it – a style reminiscent of only one of you."

Molly didn't understand. Professor Longbottom was mad because their essay flowed well?

"I don't believe that all four of you wrote this essay," Professor Longbottom declared. "I think it was written by only one of you."

Molly felt her teammates' eyes on her and she felt her spirits sink. Professor Longbottom made it sound like it was a bad thing. Was she going to get in trouble for this?

"It's only because Molly was in charge of editing all our parts," Brady invented. "So maybe it ended up sounding a bit more like her because of it. But we all contributed."

"I'd like to believe that, Mr. Hanson, I really would," Professor Longbottom said. "But just by reading the essay I can tell that there was very little, if any, contribution from the three of you."

Brady had nothing to say to this, and Molly peeked at her teammates to see that they were hanging their heads in shame.

"This assignment was meant to be a group effort," Professor Longbottom said. "It was about cooperation and teamwork and learning to share responsibilities. But you did none of that. And by signing your names on an essay that you didn't contribute to, you've committed plagiarism. I'm afraid I'm going to have to give you detention."

Molly looked up at this. Did that mean she was exempt? Since she actually had written the paper, she wasn't guilty of plagiarism at all.

"And Molly," Professor Longbottom turned to her. "You will join your teammates in detention. You may not have plagiarized, but you were complicit, and that's just as bad."

Molly hung her head in shame. She'd never had a detention before. Her father would be so disappointed in her. And her friends – she didn't know how she would face her friends after this.

MmMmMmMmMmM

The day of detention came, and Molly was subdued all day. She drifted from class to class, diligently taking notes and keeping quiet. She spoke little at meals, and when classes were over she retreated to her study room with her friends and silently completed her homework.

Detention was scheduled for after dinner. Molly ate her meal, forgoing dessert as a form of self-inflicted punishment, and when it was time she rose and dismissed herself, making her way slowly to the greenhouses where detention would be taking place.

Molly was the first one there. She was a little early, but in her experience it was better to be early than late. She took a seat at one of the tables and waited for the rest of her group to arrive.

When they did, they sat away from Molly, glaring daggers at her. They blamed her for what had happened. If she hadn't gotten carried away and written the whole paper before they'd even met, they wouldn't be in this mess. In their eyes, they'd only gone along with the plan because it seemed silly to re-write a paper when a perfectly good paper had already been written.

Professor Longbottom arrived with a bunch of giant bags of dung. As soon as they passed through the door to the room, Molly had to cover her nose with her hand, the smell was so strong. Professor Longbottom explained that their detention activity was going to be mixing fertilizer for him to use in his various classes. He put the recipe up on the board. The main ingredient was of course the dung, and then there were some other things that needed to be added as well. They would increase the effectiveness of the fertilizer and also reduce the pungency of the smell.

"Can we have nose plugs?" Amber requested.

Professor Longbottom denied her request. "I'll be in my office if any of you need anything, and I'll be checking in periodically. I expect you all to work – I'll know if you don't."

He left, and Molly resigned herself to her work. She dragged one of the bags to her workstation and collected some of the other ingredients, and then got to work mixing. The professor hadn't provided them with any kind of mixing utensil, and Molly looked over to see Jordan already elbow deep in the dung, mixing it around manually.

"You don't mean he expects us to use our hands?" Molly cried, disgusted.

"That's just unsanitary!" Amber agreed.

Jordan shrugged, not seeming to care, and Brady reluctantly followed suit. The girls spent a good twenty minutes scouring the room for something to use for mixing, but when they found nothing, they had to resign themselves to doing what the boys were doing.

Molly rolled up her sleeves, hoping to avoid getting any of it on her clothes, but it was no use. Soon she was covered with the stuff. If the shame of people knowing she'd gotten a detention wasn't enough to deter her from making this mistake again, mixing the fertilizer definitely was. Molly couldn't understand how some people got detention after detention through all their years at Hogwarts. Wasn't one enough to make you never want to receive another one ever again?

After what seemed like an eternity, Professor Longbottom returned to check their progress. Satisfied that they'd been punished enough, he let them go.

Molly and Amber hurried straight for the nearest girls' bathroom to wash as much of the dung off themselves as they could. The did pretty well with their hands and arms, but their robes were another matter. They could wipe at them all they wanted, but the smell just wouldn't leave. Eventually, they realized that they would have to return to the dorm smelling like this, and with a sigh they exited back into the hall.

When they arrived in the common room, everyone immediately started yelling at them and covering their noses, insisting that they get out of there. Molly and Amber hurried up to their dorm, dismayed to find all three of their dormmates waiting for them.

"Why do you smell like that?" Flora cried, pinching her nose and making a face.

"Detention with Professor Longbottom," Amber explained. "We were mixing manure."

"That's gross," Flora muttered. "Go and shower right now – both of you."

Molly did as she was told. She grabbed her pyjamas and retreated to the bathroom, where she stripped out of her smelly robes and tossed them down the laundry chute. She'd never been so glad to see her robes disappear. Then she took a nice long shower, scrubbing herself three times over, just to make sure she got it all, and lathering her hair with shampoo twice.

By the time Molly exited the shower, she smelled of her lavender soap and her skin was soft and smooth.

MmMmMmMmMmM

The following day, a howler came for Molly. It was from her father, and it came in the middle of breakfast, exploding in front of everyone.

"Molly, what were you thinking?" it demanded. "Plagiarism? I thought you were above that sort of thing. I thought you were intelligent, but this goes to show that you're no better than anyone else. That you could stoop to a level such as this – Your mother and I are very disappointed in you Molly. Very disappointed."

It wasn't the yelling and screaming kind of howler – Percy wasn't really a yeller. Neither was Audrey. But for Molly it was so much worse. Her cheeks heated up in shame as the whole of Gryffindor as well as some of Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin stared at her openly.

Trying to ignore it all, she became very focused on her pancakes, spreading butter on them and then pouring syrup over them. To say she regretted what she'd done would be an understatement. Writing that paper had been the worst mistake of her life. Molly knew she was never going to mess up like this ever again.


	18. April Year 2

_Year 2: Open Your Mind_

Chapter 18: April 2016

"So I'm thinking if we get potions, defence, and charms out of the way tonight, we can dedicate tomorrow to herbology and astronomy, and then on Sunday we can really focus on history and transfiguration," Molly said.

It was Friday, and classes had just finished for the day. She and her friends were on their way to start their homework, and Molly wanted to divide up her weekend evenly. Potions, charms, and defence were the simplest assignments, so she figured it made sense to get them out of the way and leave the bigger projects to when she would have more time.

"No, I say we do herbology tonight, astronomy and history tomorrow, and then transfiguration, potions, defence, and charms on Sunday," Julie disagreed. "Get the heavy stuff over with first and leave the simpler stuff for once we're done."

"No," Sarah shook her head. "That won't work… what if herbology or history takes up too much time and we never get to charms or potions? I think we should start with history tonight, and then tomorrow do herbology, potions, and charms, and then on Friday it can be astronomy, transfiguration, and defence. That way we're interspersing the bigger assignments with smaller ones."

"I disagree," Debbie shook her head. "We should really do this based on when things are due. We have transfiguration first thing on Monday, so we should really start with that today. Then tomorrow we can do history, defence, and potions, and on Sunday we can deal with astronomy and herbology. Charms if there's time, but really that can be pushed to Monday, it's really not that much work."

The girls continued to argue all the way up to the fifth floor, but they couldn't come to an agreement. In the end, they had to agree to disagree and they all started to get out their materials for different classes. Julie pulled out her herbology notes, Sarah produced her history textbook, Debbie located her transfiguration things, and Molly went in search of her potions stuff.

It didn't take long though before Molly realized that something was wrong.

"Hey guys?" she asked. "Have any of you been looking at my potions notes recently?"

"No," Julie said. "Why would we look at your notes?"

"I don't know," Molly shrugged. "Maybe yours were missing something and you needed to consult them. Whatever. It's just that they're not here."

"They're missing?" Debbie frowned.

"Well I didn't touch them," Julie said.

"Me neither," Sarah added.

"Yeah, I definitely wouldn't go through your stuff without asking," Debbie nodded.

"Well then where are they?" Moly demanded. She frantically started shuffling through all her papers, desperately looking for her potions notes. But she knew they wouldn't be there. She kept her things completely organized – if her notes were missing, someone had taken them.

"Maybe you left them back in the dorm," Sarah suggested.

Molly shook her head. "No way," she said. "I never leave anything in the dorm. The only reason they'd have ended up there is if I took them back to review before bed, and even when I do that, I bring them right back here the next day."

"Well I don't know what to tell you," Sarah shrugged. "Maybe you left them there by accident."

But Molly knew she couldn't have done. She wasn't scatterbrained or forgetful. If she'd brought her notes back to the dorm, she'd have remembered.

"Didn't you have some notes with you last night?" Sarah asked. "Maybe those were your potions notes."

"No, those were my defence notes," Molly shook her head. "And I have those right here."

She held the notes in question up for Sarah to see.

"Well what do you want from me?" Sarah asked. "The only logical place I can think they could be would be the dorm."

"You may as well go and check," Debbie said. "You know, just in case. Before you start freaking out or anything."

Molly shook her head obstinately. "I'm telling you, they won't be there," she said. "They were here, and now they're gone. I know one of you must have taken them. Or moved them. Or something."

"Whoa!" Julie cried, holding up a hand. "Now you're accusing us? You don't have any evidence!"

"I don't need any," Molly stated. Of this, she was sure. One of her friends was lying to her. "You three are the only other people that have access to this room."

"Anyone has access to this room," Debbie pointed out. "It's not as though it locks when we aren't here, and even if it did, even a first year could do an unlocking spell."

"But not everyone knows what's down here," Molly amended her statement. "You three are the only ones who use the room."

"How do you know someone didn't stumble into the room and take your notes?" Julie demanded.

"What, they randomly came across our study room and disturbed absolutely nothing while only stealing my potions notes?" Molly asked incredulously. "Don't you think that's a bit unrealistic?"

"Yes, I do," Julie nodded in agreement. "Which is why I think your notes are probably back in your dorm somewhere."

"How many times to I have to say it?" Molly cried. "I didn't leave my notes in the dorm!"

"Well how many times do we have to say that we didn't take your damn notes?" Julie retorted.

Molly was shocked at Julie's strong language and found herself without a response. She simply stared at her friends, dumbstruck.

"I think you should go," Julie declared then. "At least until you're ready to stop accusing us of something we didn't do."

Molly nodded and silently began to pack her things into her bag.

"Fine," she said.

She stood and swung her now very heavy bag over her shoulder. She piled as many books as she could carry into her arms. There were still a few on her desk that were too heavy, and she looked at them longingly.

"I'll be back for those eventually," Molly gestured to the textbooks in question. They were her history and potions books, so she probably wouldn't need them until Sunday at the earliest. Later for potions, unless she could locate her notes.

"Fine," Julie nodded, arms crossed in front of her.

Molly made her way over to the door and found she couldn't get it open with her hands full.

"Could someone – "

Debbie stood and turned the handle, pushing the door open for Molly. Molly passed through, stopping on the other side in the hallway.

She paused and turned back, taking one last look at her friends. She took a moment to look at each of them individually, trying to figure out which one was the rat. She suspected it was Julie, but didn't want to jump the gun in case it was Sarah or Debbie. The truth would come out eventually though, and when it did, her friends would see that she'd been right all along.

Debbie closed the door behind Molly and she leaned against it for a moment as emotions swirled inside of her. As much as she was angry and didn't really want to sit in a room with a liar and a thief, she hated being kicked out like that. It wasn't fair – she was the victim here!

"Good grief," she heard Julie mutter from inside the room. "What's gotten into Molly?"

"I know, it was like she went crazy!" Sarah agreed. "Screaming and accusing us all."

"How could she think one of us would steal her notes?" Debbie wondered. "We're her friends. And we would've just asked like we always do – she's never refused to lend us her notes, as long as we give them back."

Having heard enough, Molly pushed off from the door and made her way down the hallway towards the staircase. She could finish her homework in the common room. At least now, all her notes were stuffed in her bag instead of lying in plain sight. Whoever had stolen her potions notes wouldn't be able to steal anything else without her noticing.

MmMmMmMmMmM

Just before curfew, Sarah returned to Gryffindor Tower from studying with Julie and Debbie. Molly saw her come in and glared at her as she passed by and headed up to the dorm. Whether Sarah had stolen her notes or not, in Molly's eyes, she was complicit. She'd stood by when Julie had kicked Molly out, which meant she was supporting the thief over her.

Grumpily, Molly tried to focus on her herbology work. Since her potions things were missing, she'd had to rethink her entire weekend homework plan. Now her intention was to finish herbology tonight, work on astronomy and transfiguration tomorrow, maybe with some defence or charms thrown in if she had the time, and then on Sunday she would focus on history, what was left of charms and defence, and hopefully potions. Unfortunately, she was so distracted by everything that she was having trouble paying attention to what her textbook had to say about the venomous tentacula.

Just then, someone began stomping down the stairs and Molly found herself audibly grumbling. There was always something going on in the common room that made it hard to concentrate. It was probably some angry fifth year who was about to scream at her boyfriend for cheating on her or something. Molly covered her ears with her hands and tried to read what was in front of her. But then the page was obscured by a stack of notes being thrown down in her face.

"What - ?" Molly frowned, removing her hands from her ears. It was her potions notes. Where had they come from? She looked up to find a very furious Sarah looking at her. "It was you?" Molly cried, shooting up and pointing a finger at her former friend in accusation. "You stole my notes?"

"There you go, assuming things again," Sarah cried.

"Well it's pretty obvious it was you now," Molly said, gesturing to the notes. "Where else would you have gotten these?"

"I _found them_ ," Sarah declared. "I didn't take them."

"Oh," Molly said in surprise. So then who had taken them? "It was Julie, wasn't it?" she asked. "I knew it."

"It wasn't Julie," Sarah shook her head. "But it's interesting that you'd jump to that conclusion."

Molly frowned. Julie had been the obvious choice. She was loud, obnoxious, and she'd been the one to kick Molly out of the study room earlier. And Molly never would have guessed that it was Debbie who'd have stolen them. But now that she thought about it, she realized it made sense. Debbie was quiet and pensive and unassuming. She was the perfect candidate for a thief. It was always the quiet ones.

"Well I hope you've made it clear to Debbie that she'd no longer welcome studying with us," Molly said.

But Sarah continued to shake her head. "It wasn't Debbie either."

Now Molly was even more confused. "Well then who was it?" she asked.

Sarah didn't answer, only stared at Molly for a long time, making Molly feel uncomfortable.

"Would you just tell me who took my notes, please?" Molly requested.

Sarah raised her chin defiantly. "Flora," she declared.

Molly was taken aback. "Flora?" she asked. "Seriously?"

"Yeah," Sarah nodded. "I found them on her nightstand just now when I went to start getting ready for bed. When I asked her about them, she said she'd borrowed them the other day when she saw them lying on top of your trunk and she'd forgotten to return them."

"Oh," Molly muttered, not knowing what to say.

"So we were right," Sarah said. "You did forget them in the dorm. You brought them back with you and never returned them."

"Well you can hardly blame me if Flora took them off my trunk," Molly said in her defense. "How was I supposed to know I couldn't trust my dormmates not to steal my stuff? Maybe I should start locking my trunk at night."

Sarah crossed her arms. "Isn't there anything else you'd like to say?" she asked.

Molly frowned. "Well I'd like to say some things to Flora," she said.

Sarah threw her hands up in the air. "Seriously?" she demanded. "You aren't even going to apologize?"

"Apologize for what?" Molly asked. "It's not my fault Flora stole my notes."

"Apologize for what?" Sarah repeated disbelievingly. "How about for flying off the handle earlier and accusing us all of being thieves? For not trusting your friends when we told you the truth? For being rude and obnoxious and just plain mean?"

"I was mean?" Molly demanded, her eyes going wide in shock. " _I_ was mean? Did you even hear what Julie said to me? I was in distress and she just… attacked me!"

"You don't even see how wrong you were," Sarah said, her voice incredulous. "You can't even realize."

"Realize what?" Molly demanded.

"You know what? Never mind. You can keep your potions notes and your little table in the common room, because you are no longer welcome on the fifth floor."

With that, Sarah stalked back up the stairs to the dorm, leaving a very confused Molly in the common room.

What was Sarah so mad about? Molly was the one who should be mad. Her notes were _stolen_. It was reasonable to get freaked out when things like that happen. Sarah was being unreasonable.

Molly sat there for a while longer, waiting until she was sure Sarah would be in bed with the curtains drawn before heading upstairs. She didn't want to face Sarah like this. Not when Sarah was so worked up. She would wait until the morning. Hopefully her friend would be in a better mood then.

MmMmMmMmMmM

Sarah wasn't in a better mood the next morning. In fact, she seemed even more upset when she found that Molly still didn't think she needed to apologize. So Molly found herself getting ready to spend the day in the common room yet again. She contemplated going to the library to do her homework, but knew that her friends would likely be down there throughout the day consulting library books for various classes, and she didn't much feel like running into them. At least in the common room she couldn't run into Debbie or Julie, and the likelihood of Sarah returning before curfew was slim.

About mid-way through the morning, Louis descended from the boys' dorms and came over to Molly's study area.

"Hey Louis," Molly greeted her younger cousin.

"Hey Molly," Louis said. "What are you doing here? You're never in the common room."

Molly nodded. "Yeah, but I'm kind of having a fight with my friends, so I didn't really want to hang out with them."

"Oh," Louis nodded in understanding. "What did you fight about?"

"It's nothing," Molly shrugged. "It's dumb."

"But maybe I can help," Louis said.

"I doubt it," Molly replied. "This is serious, not silly first year stuff."

"Well why don't you tell me what happened, and then we'll see whether I can be helpful or not," Louis said.

Molly sighed. She figured it would be nice to talk to someone. She just needed someone to be on her side. Though Louis wouldn't have been her first choice, he was here, so she told him the whole story.

Louis listened attentively, not interrupting or commenting once through Molly's tale. When she finished, he nodded thoughtfully.

"So?" Molly asked.

"You need to apologize," Louis declared.

"Wait, what?" Molly cried. "No, you misunderstood. It's my friends who need to apologize for kicking me out!"

"No," Louis shook his head. "You accused them of stealing when they didn't. You were mean first. Anything they did was only in reaction to what you started. So you have to be the first one to apologize."

Molly made a face. "Whatever," she muttered. "I knew you'd be no help."

With a shrug, Louis stood and headed for the door. "I have somewhere to be anyway," he declared. "Good luck figuring this out on your own."

MmMmMmMmMmM

The day dragged on and Molly slowly made her way through her work. She had completed herbology last night and had proceeded with history, and was currently working on defence before moving on to transfiguration. She'd ended up deciding to push astronomy to Sunday, because she had a lot of time to get it done and realized it didn't need to take priority.

Defence didn't take long though, and soon Molly was ready to start with transfiguration. She realized then that her transfiguration and potions books were still on the fifth floor with her friends. She knew she had to get them, but she wasn't ready to face any of them.

Molly sighed to herself and instead decided to procrastinate by doing her charms homework. Unfortunately, it didn't take very long before that was completed. She could continue procrastinating by doing astronomy, but she figured she might as well get things over with, so she stood and headed for the portrait hole.

On the way down to the fifth floor, Molly thought about her conversation with Louis. It was ridiculous – the notion that she should apologize. Her friends had been incredibly insensitive towards her in a time of incredible panic and worry on her part. Anything she had said or done should have been excused. Molly obviously hadn't been in her right mind when she'd said what she'd said. And even if she had been, it wasn't that crazy to assume that the people that shared the room she kept her notes in were the most likely candidates for thievery of those notes. It was common sense. It was logical.

But then Molly thought about how she would have felt if Sarah or Julie or Debbie had accused her of stealing from them when she hadn't. She would have been pretty upset with them too. And hurt. She would never do something like that, and she knew that her friends wouldn't either. Especially when all four of them had always been so open about sharing notes.

Molly felt wretched. Louis was right. She needed to apologize.

Before she knew it, she found herself standing outside the door to the study room. Her heart was pounding as she tried to think of the words she wanted to say, but before she could work up the courage to knock on the door, it was being pulled open right in front of her.

"Molly?" Julie asked in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh!" Molly said, caught off guard by the sudden opening of the door. "Well I – I was coming down to get my textbooks – "

"Great, well then go ahead and take them and go," Sarah said. "We were just on our way to the library, so we'll leave you to it."

Her friends started to file out of the room and Molly panicked. "Wait!" she cried.

Her friends paused and turned to look at her.

"What?" Julie demanded, hands on her hips.

Molly took a deep breath. "I was just coming to get my books," she repeated herself. "But as I was walking down here, I realized I owe you all an apology. I shouldn't have been so fast to judge you all. You're my friends and I was mean and accusatory and I'm sorry."

It seemed like an eternity before anyone spoke, and Molly thought she would die from the anticipation. Then Debbie opened her mouth.

"Thanks Molly," she said, stepping forward. "And for what it's worth, I'm sorry we kicked you out."

Julie nodded, also taking a step forward. "Yeah," she said. "Sorry.

Molly looked behind her Ravenclaw friends at Sarah. They had had by far the worst fight of all, and she worried that Sarah wouldn't forgive her. But then Sarah smiled and stepped forward as well. "We good then?" she asked.

Molly nodded. "Can I maybe come back and study with you guys?" she asked. "The common room just isn't cutting it."

Debbie laughed. "Of course," she said readily. "It really isn't the same without you anyway."

And just like that, Molly and her friends went back to normal.


	19. May Year 2

_Year 2: Open Your Mind_

Chapter 19: May 2016

As May fell upon Hogwarts, Molly and her friends began to study all their subjects cumulatively and systematically. There was only so much time before exams and they needed to be ready after all.

Unfortunately, Molly was not feeling her best. At first she thought maybe all the studying was getting to her, but she soon realized it was more than that. She refused to give in though, determined that if she could just push through, she'd make it to the other side of exams. She could be sick over the summer.

"Molly, aren't you going to join us for lunch?" Debbie asked one Sunday afternoon, as she, Sarah, and Julie all headed towards the corridor to go to the Great Hall.

Molly shook her head. "You guys go without me. I'm not hungry."

That she wasn't hungry was an understatement. Molly's stomach had been rolling all morning. Ever since those eggs and sausages she'd had at breakfast, she'd started feeling nauseous. She'd tried to hide it from her friends, but now that they were gone she was desperate for some fresh air.

Molly got up and crossed over to the window, opening the latch and swinging the pane outward. As the fresh outdoor air filled the fifth floor study room, she breathed in and sighed in relief. She started to feel a bit better.

Once she was satisfied she could focus, she sat back down at her desk and pulled her transfiguration notes towards her again. She couldn't afford to lose even an hour of study time if she wanted to maintain her straight O's again this year.

Molly's stomach did a flip, and suddenly she didn't feel well again. She raised a hand to cover her mouth and tried to force her stomach to sit still, but it was no use. She knew what was going to happen, and she knew she didn't have time to run to the bathroom, so she ran to the window and leaned out, emptying her breakfast into the air. She hoped nobody was walking below, or they would suddenly find themselves having a really bad day.

When she was finished, Molly collapsed back into her chair, holding her forehead and taking deep breaths to steady herself. It was over. Maybe now she could study.

She shuffled her transfiguration notes and tried to pay attention to the theory of switching spells, but it was difficult. Her stomach was still distracting her. She figured it would calm down eventually, once it got used to being empty once again, and tried to ignore it. But then, almost as quickly as it came on the first time, she felt it again, and had to frantically run back to the window.

It was worse than the first time, and when it was over, she needed even longer to compose herself before she could even stand to look at transfiguration again. She knew she should just go to Madam Eldridge and get a potion or something, but if she did, the hospital wing matron would insist she stick around, and Molly didn't have time to waste laying around in a hospital bed. She would have to handle this on her own.

She managed to study for a good while then, her stomach settling for a bit, and giving her some clarity of mind. But just as she was starting to feel secure, it began acting up again.

"Leave me alone!" Molly cried, yelling at her stomach. It was silly, she knew. Her stomach couldn't hear her, which meant that really she was talking to herself, which couldn't be healthy. But she was so fed up she didn't care.

When she felt it coming on, she ran for the window, hanging out of it in a way that she wouldn't accidentally get some on her robes, and holding her hair out of her face. She knew it would be better to go to the bathroom, but if she did that, she couldn't be as close to her notes, and she'd waste time walking back and forth.

Just as Molly was finishing, she heard the door open behind her and her friends returned from lunch.

"Molly, are you alright?" Debbie cried, immediately running to her friend's side.

"Molly it stinks in here!" Julie said, a little less sensitive than Debbie.

"Why haven't you gone to the hospital wing?" Sarah demanded.

Molly shook her head. "I'm fine," she insisted. "I don't need the hospital, I just need to study."

"You obviously need the hospital," Debbie said, helping Molly away from the window and into her chair. "You're not going to get any useful studying done in this condition."

"No," Molly disagreed. "I have to stay here. I can't afford to be sick."

"Molly we're not giving you a choice," Julie declared. "You are no longer welcome in this room until you go and see Madam Eldridge."

Molly glared at Julie. Though she hated it, she knew in her heart that Julie was right. She really did need to go to the hospital wing. And this wasn't an angry expulsion from the study room like it had been a month ago. This was Julie looking out for her and being a friend.

"But my notes and things are all here," Molly protested. "I need to stay with them and study."

"You can bring some with you," Sarah reminded her. "If you have to stay in the hospital wing, you can bring your notes with you and study them there. It'll be just as effective as here, except you'll be in a much better position to get better."

Molly sighed. "Fine," she muttered, gathering as many notes as she could to stuff into her bag. "I'll go. But if I fail, I'm blaming all of you."

That last statement wasn't really true. If Molly failed, she'd only have herself to blame. For not studying further in advance, for not having a stronger immune system…

Debbie volunteered to take Molly down to the hospital wing, and Molly was torn between being grateful for her friend's support, or offended that she didn't think Molly would go if left on her own. Whatever the reason, they made it to the fourth floor without incident, and Debbie immediately called for Madam Eldridge.

"And what seems to be the problem here?" Madam Eldridge asked, bustling over. The hospital wing was surprisingly empty – it seemed that nobody in the castle but Molly was sick today.

"It's Molly," Debbie said, gesturing to her friend. "She's sick. I found her throwing up out a window."

"Is that so?" Madam Eldridge asked. "Well alright then dear, come along and lay down in one of these beds while I examine you."

As Molly climbed up into a bed, Debbie hovered awkwardly at the foot. She looked torn between staying to make sure Molly was alright and going back to her studies.

"You can go," Molly said, noticing her friend's dilemma. If Molly were in Debbie's place, she certainly wouldn't want to hang around in the hospital wing for no reason.

So Debbie left, and Madam Eldridge began to examine Molly, both with her hands and with her wand.

"When did you start feeling nauseous?" the hospital wing matron asked.

Molly thought about it. "Well I've been feeling uneasy for a few days, but I didn't feel like this until breakfast this morning."

Madam Eldridge nodded. "Any other symptoms?"

Molly shrugged. "Not really," she said. "It's just my stomach. And I feel kind of warm."

"Yes," Madam Eldridge nodded. "You do have a fever. Did you only throw up that one time?"

Molly shook her head in shame. "No, it was actually three times," she admitted.

If Madam Eldridge was judging her for not coming to her after the first, she didn't say anything. Instead, she only nodded and completed her examination.

"Well it's not too serious," she said, to Molly's delight. "Unfortunately, you will have to stay here overnight, and possibly through the day tomorrow if the fever hasn't subsided."

At this, Molly's heart sank. "Can't you just give me a potion and send me on my way?" she asked.

Madam Eldridge shook her head. "I can give you a potion, but with ailments of the stomach, they have to be slow-acting, or else they could end up making things worse."

This was bad news for Molly. She could handle staying the day and even overnight if she had to – she had her notes and could study here just as well as from the fifth floor. But if she had to stay the day tomorrow, she would miss some very important classes.

"Is there anything I can do to ensure that it works as quickly as possible?" Molly wondered.

Madam Eldridge shook her head. "Just rest and fluids I'm afraid," she said. "These things take time."

The woman produced a potion and instructed Molly to take two spoonsful of the stuff. Then she deposited it on Molly's side table, saying that in two hours she would have to take more, but that she would come and remind her. In the meantime, Madam Eldridge had some paperwork to work on, and would be just over in her office.

When the hospital wing matron had gone, Molly found herself curiously considering the potion bottle that had been left by her side. Madam Eldridge wanted her to take two spoonsful every two hours. But what if Molly took a little extra? Surely it would speed up the recovery process.

Checking to make sure Madam Eldridge wasn't looking, Molly unstoppered the bottle and raised it to her lips, taking a sip, and then another, and then another.

When the bottle was about half full, she put it back on the side table, satisfied that now she would surely improve at a much faster rate. With a nod to herself, she fumbled with her bag for a moment to get her transfiguration notes out and settled back against the pillows as she began to study.

It was mere minutes before her stomach started to protest. It started off slowly, doing a couple of angry flips and gurgling at her. Soon though, it felt like her stomach was swirling and she could feel herself wanting to throw up again. Throwing her notes to the end of her bed, Molly frantically looked around for something she could use. There was a small bucket under the adjacent bed, so she grabbed it and leaned over it.

It was just in time, as the first wave hit right then. It was worse than throwing up out the window, because now it wasn't going anywhere, and the smell of it filled her nostrils and only made her even sicker.

Madam Eldridge was there in a heartbeat, rubbing Molly's back as she emptied her stomach contents into the bucket. When she finished, she leaned back against the pillows in exhaustion and Madam Eldridge promptly removed the bucket, returning with a fresh one that she placed on the floor directly to Molly's left.

"Don't worry, it's to be expected," Madam Eldridge assured her. "The potion needs time to work."

"That wasn't supposed to happen," Molly moaned. "I took the extra potion so that it would work faster, not make me throw up again!"

"Extra potion?" Madam Eldridge asked, her tone worried. "What do you mean."

Sheepishly, Molly gestured to the potion bottle that now contained a significantly smaller amount of potion than before.

"Oh dear," Madam Eldridge said, holding it up to see how much was gone. "Oh dear. You drank all this?"

Molly nodded, now feeling dumb for having done it.

"I know I was only supposed to take the two spoonsful at two hour intervals, but I figured this way I'd heal faster," Molly defended herself.

"Don't you know that with medicinal potions, increasing the dose can have disastrous consequences?" Madam Eldridge cried.

Come to think of it, Molly realized she did know that. Her stomach flipped and she wasn't sure if it was the nausea or the guilt.

"Sorry," Molly apologized.

Madam Eldridge shook her head. "Don't apologize to me," she said. "Apologize to yourself. It's going to take much longer to get better after what you've done. We'll have to wait for the large dose of potion to leave your system and then start over with the appropriate small doses."

Molly wanted to punch something she was so mad at herself. Now she would certainly be stuck here during classes tomorrow, maybe even the next day depending on how long it took for her body to expel all the potion. She hadn't been thinking – if she had, she'd have known that Madam Eldridge would be doing everything possible to get her out her the hospital as quickly as possible, and that nothing Molly could think of on her own would speed it up.

She didn't have long to ponder on that though, because in seconds she found herself grabbing the bucket and heaving into in once again. When she finished that time, she found that she was exhausted, and before she could even think about studying transfiguration, she was falling asleep.

MmMmMmMmMmM

The next morning, Madam Eldridge force-fed Molly some toast, claiming that it would be good to get some food back into her system. Molly hadn't thrown up all night, and Madam Eldridge saw that as a good sign that she would soon be ready to start taking the potion properly.

For her part, Molly was feeling much better than the previous day, and told Madam Eldridge so, claiming that she felt well enough to go to classes. Madam Eldridge didn't think so though, and put a quick end to the discussion. Then she retreated to her office to do some paperwork.

Left alone, Molly started to form a plan. She understood that she couldn't be released from the hospital wing until she was all better – Madam Eldridge had to keep an eye on her. But Madam Eldridge also retreated to her office for extended periods of time, so it wasn't as though she needed to keep a constant eye on her. And Molly had some important classes happening that day – with exams coming up, it was suicide to skip even a single lesson.

And since Molly was feeling so much better, she saw no reason why she couldn't go to classes and just come back here when they were over. So with a glance to Madam Eldridge's office, Molly climbed off her hospital bed and slowly began to tiptoe towards the large doors of the hospital wing.

Molly didn't make it very far though, before she felt her stomach start to betray her. It did a few rolls and flips, and Molly had to run back to her bedside and grab the bucket before she made a mess on the hospital wing floor.

Madam Eldridge hurried over immediately, helping Molly through it. When it was over, she helped her back into bed, probably assuming that she'd simply fallen out in her quest for the bucket.

"I guess the toast wasn't such a good idea," Molly muttered weakly.

Madam Eldridge nodded. "There's still much more potion in your system than we'd thought. We won't be able to start the new dosage until tonight at the earliest."

Molly didn't like the sound of that, but knew there was nothing she could do about it. Taking more potion now would only make things worse.

"Well let me take care of this," Madam Eldridge sighed, picking up the bucket. "I'll bring a new one shortly."

Madam Eldridge disappeared, and Molly knew this was her chance. Now that she'd thrown up again, Madam Eldridge would try to monitor her even more closely, and once she brought that bucket back there'd be no escape. Molly climbed out of bed once again and quickly scurried over to the doors, pulling them open and slipping through them.

She was free!

Though she didn't have her notes, or her textbook, or anything useful really, Molly didn't care. She just needed to go to class. One of her friends would be able to lend her a quill and some parchment surely.

Her first period was potions, so she hurried down to the dungeons, not wanting to be late. She was already cutting it a little close, but she managed to slip in before her teacher started the lesson.

"Molly!" Professor Abbott-Longbottom said in surprise when she saw her. "I wasn't expecting you. I received a note from Madam Eldridge that you would be in the hospital wing today."

"Yes, well I'm all better now," Molly declared.

"That's excellent," Professor Abbott-Longbottom smiled. "If you wouldn't mind just giving me your note, and then we can start the class."

"My note?" Molly asked.

Professor Abbott-Longbottom nodded. "Yes," she confirmed. "Your note from Madam Eldridge. The one that signifies that you're alright and that you've been discharged from the hospital wing."

"Oh that note," Molly nodded, pretending to know what her professor was talking about. "Yes well actually, Madam Eldridge didn't have time to write it if I was going to make it on time, but she said that my word would be enough for you."

Professor Abbott-Longbottom narrowed her eyes. "Well unfortunately I'm not allowed to take students at their word in this regard," she said. "When Madam Eldridge takes charge of a patient, we aren't to allow them back into class until we receive written confirmation that they are healed. It's for both your benefit, and the benefit of the rest of the students. We can't have everyone getting sick after all, and your recovery will be much faster that way."

"I'd love to go back and get a note," Molly lied. "But I really don't want to miss this lesson, and the hospital wing is so far away."

Professor Abbott-Longbottom sympathized, but claimed she still couldn't allow Molly to stay without documentation.

Molly was frantically trying to think of something else she could say to try to stay in potions class when the door behind her burst open and Madam Eldridge stumbled in.

"There you are!" she cried, pointing an accusing finger at Molly. "Professor, this one has escaped!"

The adults were acting like this was some kind of jailbreak scenario rather than a simple case of a student wanting to attend a lesson.

"What's the big deal?" Molly cried in frustration. "I just want to learn about potions!"

"I'm afraid you have to come with me," Madam Eldridge demanded, grabbing Molly by the arm and dragging her out of class.

"I'll let you copy my notes later!" Debbie offered, calling after Molly as she was dragged from the dungeons.

Madam Eldridge was not happy.

"I can't believe you snuck out after I expressly told you that you couldn't go to class today!" Madam Eldridge cried when they returned to the hospital wing. "Do you have no concern for your health?"

"Sure I do," Molly nodded. "But I was feeling fine and it's really important that I don't miss classes right now. It's almost exam time, after all."

"Well if you don't take the time to get better now, you won't even be writing those exams," Madam Eldridge declared. "Is that what you want?"

"No ma'am," Molly said, bowing her head in appropriate shame. That would be the worst. If she had to miss her exams and take them in August – it would be the height of humiliation. Especially if she could have prevented it by just staying in the hospital wing.

"I'll stay put this time," Molly assured the hospital wing matron. "I promise. I want to get better. I can't go to summer school."

"Very good then," Madam Eldridge nodded, satisfied. "I'll be in my office. Call if you need anything."


	20. June Year 2

_Year 2: Open Your Mind_

Chapter 20: June 2016

To Molly's relief, she had fully healed in a few days' time, and by the time exams came around, she was feeling much better. She had missed a couple classes though, and she was nervous – what if she'd missed too much and didn't do as well on her exams as last year?

As she prepared to go into her first exam of the session, her heart pounded, and she found herself starting to sweat. She needed a few more days to catch up on what she'd missed. She wasn't ready. This must be how normal people felt before exams, knowing that they couldn't possibly have all the answers with the minimal studying they'd done. So why did everyone around her seem so calm? Was it her imagination, or did nobody else care about their grades besides her?

Molly was a wreck through the whole exam period, and when she came out the other end, she wanted to curl up in a ball and never think about them again. But she couldn't. She had work to do.

As per the girls' agreement with Headmaster Slinkhard, now that exams were over, they had to take apart their study room.

"What do you think will happen next year?" Debbie wondered. "Will he let us have the room again do you think?"

"Well he seemed pretty sure back in September that he'd have the problem solved by next year," Molly reminded her friends.

"Yeah, but he thought that last year too," Julie pointed out. "And all we got was an inter-house lounge that nobody uses."

"Yeah," Molly nodded with a sigh. "I don't know, maybe he has a better idea this time around."

"I hope not," Sarah said. "I like our arrangement. It's better than anything he could concoct, and once he thinks he's solved the problem, that'll be it for us studying here."

"What if he comes up with something even better?" Debbie wondered.

"He couldn't," Sarah replied brazenly. "No way could he come up with a better idea than this."

Molly shrugged, deciding not to get into it with Sarah for the time being. Headmaster Slinkhard would do what he would, and that would be the end of it.

With their study room dismantled and back to the way it had been, the girls had to relegate themselves to the library to start on their summer homework. Fortunately, the library was practically empty, most students taking the week to not think about school in any capacity and to lounge around outside in the sun. So Molly and her friends weren't disturbed in the least.

"You know, if the library was like this on a normal day, I'd have no problem studying here," Julie noted.

"Yeah, this is nice. Quiet. No distractions," Debbie agreed.

Suddenly it hit Molly. "I know what we need!" she exclaimed. "Walled segregated study spaces in the library!"

Her friends all frowned at her, not sure what she meant.

"Explain," Sarah requested.

Molly obliged. "So, the problem with the library is that it's supposed to be a silent zone, but everyone is always making noise and talking and yelling when they shouldn't be. So what if a part of the library was closed off to the rest? Maybe there could be a few little rooms like that, that were closed off. Then people who wanted to do serious work could go in there, and they'd still be in the library, but wouldn't be distracted by the general populace of students working in the main library."

"That's perfect!" Sarah agreed. "We should suggest it to Headmaster Slinkhard."

"Let's go now," Julie suggested boldly.

"Now?" Molly balked. "Shouldn't we think the details through first?"

"Let Headmaster Slinkhard figure out the details," Julie shook her head. "He's the one who's going to be implementing it anyway. At least we should run the preliminary idea past him before going any further."

"I agree," Sarah nodded. "Let's go."

So Molly found herself being dragged by her friends up to the sixth floor to the Headmaster's office.

"Come in," he said when they knocked on their door. He had to have known they were coming, but he pretended to be surprised when they entered. "What can I do for you ladies this afternoon?" he wondered.

"It's about our study space on the fifth floor," Julie said.

The Headmaster narrowed his eyes. "I was under the impression that I had told you to dismantle that as soon as exams were over."

"Yes, and we did," Julie assured him. "But we were just talking about next year and wondering what sort of arrangement we might come to and – "

"Actually girls, it's good you bring that up," Headmaster Slinkhard smiled. "I've come up with the perfect solution."

"You have?" Julie asked in surprise.

"Yes," the Headmaster replied. "I've decided to expand the inter-house lounge by making six more all throughout the school. Each one will be relegated to a specific year, so all the first years will have a lounge, and the second years, and so on. As I understood, the existing lounge is so small, there wasn't enough room for everyone to use it, and it was mostly the sixth and seventh years who would go there. This way, everyone would have their place. And with more room for the students to congregate outside the library, I'm sure it'll be a much nicer place to study from now on."

Molly exchanged a look with her friends. Headmaster Slinkhard had mentioned expanding the inter-house lounge back in September, and they'd told him that it wasn't a good solution. And it still wasn't. Making more spaces for students to go wouldn't change the fact that students were always in the library, needing books and working on projects and the like.

"With all due respect, Headmaster…" Julie said slowly. "We'd like to propose an alternate idea. Perhaps one that could work in conjunction with yours."

Julie was good. She didn't tell the Headmaster his plan was terrible, and instead suggested adding their plan to his. Their plan would work just as well with the inter-house lounges. They wouldn't really affect much anyway, and objectively, Molly thought they were a nice idea. For other students.

"Let's hear it then," Headmaster Slinkhard requested.

Julie turned to Molly and she realized her friends expected her to explain the plan. She figured it had been hers in the first place, but she panicked. Usually Julie was the one who did the talking in situations like this.

"Er – right," Molly mumbled ineloquently. "So we were thinking – "

And Molly explained her idea. The Headmaster listened patiently she explained it in a bit more detail than she had with her friends before, wanting to make sure he really understood her proposal. He nodded along politely, and when she was finished, he folded his hands on the desk in front of him.

"It sounds to me like you're proposing that I allow you to continue to have a study room, only that it be moved to the second floor for easier access to books," he said.

Molly panicked at his negative reaction.

"No Sir," Julie hurried to say. "That's not our intention at all. We would hope that there would be multiple rooms, and that all students would have equal access to them. We of course would utilize them from time to time when we had work to complete. But it wouldn't be our space exclusively."

"I see," Headmaster Slinkhard nodded, leaning back in his chair. "I'll think about it. Thank you for your proposal girls."

Julie nodded. "Thank you for your time, Headmaster."

The other girls echoed her thanks and they left the Headmaster's office.

"Well that went well," Julie said once they were back in the sixth floor corridor.

"Excuse me?" Molly asked. "Were you even there? He hated the idea."

"He misunderstood the idea," Julie clarified. "But now that he sees that it could benefit all students, I'm sure he'll come to see that it's a worthy undertaking."

MmMmMmMmMmM

When the end of the week arrived and grades were available for all non- fifth and seventh years, Molly was reluctant to retrieve them.

"Come on," Debbie insisted. "I'm sure you did just fine. Besides, you have to face them eventually, so why not now?"

Molly knew Debbie had a point, so she went with her friends, stopping first at Professor Flitwick's office so that Debbie and Julie could get their scores, and then descending to the first floor so that Sarah and Molly could pick theirs up from Professor Longbottom. None of them opened their envelopes until they were all standing together in the corridor – they wanted to open them together.

"Let's go," Julie said, and then Molly found herself in the midst of friends who were frantically grabbing their sheets of parchment and reading their scores.

Molly moved slower than her friends, nervous about what she would find on her parchment. She needn't have been worried though. Her parchment was a string of straight O's, just like the previous year. Molly breathed a sigh of relief.

"So I guess you did alright then?" Sarah asked, glancing over at Molly's sheet. "Straight O's, same here."

"Me too," Julie nodded, flashing her parchment in her friends' faces. "And you Debbie?"

Debbie was quiet. She looked up from her scores timidly, her face downcast. "I – I got an E. In Astronomy."

"Oh," Molly heard herself saying in surprise. She'd expected to have E's on her own paper, but hadn't expected that any of her friends would be faced with that horror. "Well an E's not so bad," she said diplomatically.

"Easy for you to say now," Debbie said accusingly. "You didn't get any. But all we've heard for days is how terrified you were of getting one and how terrible it would be if you did."

"Well yeah but… that's only because my Dad would have killed me for getting an E," Molly defended herself.

"I have parents too," Debbie reminded her. "You don't think they'll be disappointed in me? This is a disaster!"

"How did it even happen?" Julie wondered, taking Debbie's parchment from her and looking over it.

"I have no idea," Debbie sighed. "I think I'm going to go and speak to Professor Brunwell and try and clear it up. Maybe it was a mistake."

MmMmMmMmMmM

Debbie's E wasn't a mistake. Professor Brunwell explained that she was still an exemplary student, but that she wasn't quite as advanced as some of her friends. He also gave her some extra summer work that would help her bring her grade up the following year, which Debbie took gladly. She was determined to do better in the coming year and bring her average back to a slate of straight O's.

MmMmMmMmMmM

Before Molly knew it, she was on the train with her friends, heading home. About mid-way into their journey, Julie looked up from her studying and looked pensively out the window.

"I've been thinking," she said.

"About what?" Sarah wondered.

"About how we aren't part of any extracurricular activities," Julie replied.

Molly made a face, but said nothing. What was wrong with not being a part of any extracurriculars? They were all lame anyway.

"I was thinking that maybe we should branch out next year and do something besides study all the time," Julie said.

"What, like join the wizard's chess club?" Molly frowned. Though they liked to play wizard's chess amongst themselves, Molly didn't think she'd enjoy playing with other students.

"No," Julie shook her head. "I was actually thinking we should try something a little out of our usual lane. To mix things up a bit."

"What did you have in mind?" Sarah asked.

Julie turned away from the window to look at each of her friends, enthusiasm in her eyes. "I thought it might be fun if we all tried out for Quidditch next year," she announced.

Molly was speechless. Julie had to be kidding. She wasn't serious. Quidditch was – well for one thing, Molly could barely fly. And for another thing, Quidditch was extremely time-consuming. There were practices almost every day of the week, and at all hours of the day. If they joined the Quidditch team, that would be the end of their records as straight O students. They wouldn't have the time to study the material anymore, and they'd fall behind.

"That's a great idea!" Sarah exclaimed to Molly's shock and surprise. "I was just thinking about how we're always cooped up in the castle, sitting behind desks. It's be nice to get outside and moving sometimes."

"I don't know…" Debbie said hesitantly. "Won't it take time away from our studies? After all, I have an E to pull up next year."

Molly thanked Merlin that at least one of her friends could see reason. Of course they didn't have time to play Quidditch. Not to mention, third year would mean the introduction of two new classes. Molly and her friends had all signed up to take Arithmancy and Ancient Runes – two of the hardest classes offered at Hogwarts. They'd need to really buckle down and focus if they wanted to succeed in their electives.

"Actually Debbie, I read this article in the _Wizarding Journal of Education_ , and it said that regular physical activity actually stimulates the brain and increases students' grades. Something about how hours of studying on end with no interruption numbs the mind, but studying after being active makes the studying more fruitful," Julie replied.

Debbie hummed and nodded. "Interesting," she said. "Well in that case, I think it's worth a shot. Maybe Quidditch will improve my astronomy grade."

Molly couldn't believe it. Now all her friends were on board with this? Were they insane? Did Debbie even hear that last sentence? Maybe _Quidditch_ will improve her _astronomy_ grade? How did that even make sense? Studying astronomy would improve her astronomy grade!

"Molly?" Sarah asked, turning to her silent friend. "What do you think?"

"I think it's crazy," Molly replied honestly.

Julie shrugged. "Maybe a little, but isn't it worth a try?"

Molly stayed quiet. Protesting wouldn't change her friends' minds, and they were clearly all mad. Maybe they just needed some time to sit with their decision to realize that they were barking up the wrong tree.

"I propose that we all spend the summer practicing," Julie said then. "When we return to school in the fall, we'll try out for our respective teams. If we make the teams, then we know it was meant to be. If not, then we'll know it was a bad idea."

Molly shook her head. Now they were leaving things up to fate? Didn't her friends realize that this wasn't the way to do things?

Debbie and Sarah agreed though, so Molly found herself nodding along, pretending to be on board. It didn't mean she really had to spend her summer practicing Quidditch – she didn't even own a broom anyway. And in September, her friends would surely have given up their foolish quest.

When the train pulled into King's Cross station, Molly was all too eager to part from her friends and find her family. She needed a break from all the Quidditch talk. For all her family's flaws, at least they were consistent. With Julie and Sarah and Debbie, Molly never knew what crazy idea they'd come up with next. They were great and all, but she was coming to realize that they could be really unfocused at times. They got caught up in strange pursuits unrelated to their studies. It was a wonder they'd done as well as they had in their exams.

Molly knew one thing for sure. She wouldn't be swayed by their unfocused ways. She had her eye on the prize. And the prize was seven years of straight O's.


	21. September Year 3

_Year 3: Left Behind_

Chapter 21: September 2016

After a summer of diligent studying, Molly found herself back at Hogwarts. Flying up to the school in the self-propelled carriages had felt good to Molly – it had felt right. Molly had started to feel more studious just seeing the castle from the carriage window. Despite the endless hours of reading and revising Molly had done over the summer, nothing compared to the concentration she could get here at Hogwarts without her sister bothering her every two minutes.

Of course, Lucy was starting school this year as well. Molly was unsurprised when at the welcome feast, Lucy was sorted into Gryffindor with the rest of the Weasley clan. At this point it wasn't even a question. Molly could only hope that Lucy would quickly make friends of her own, and that if she didn't, she'd have the good sense to bother one of her cousins rather than her sister. Molly had enjoyed the past two years without listening to Lucy's prattling every day and very much didn't want that to change.

The new inter-house lounges that Headmaster Slinkhard had mentioned at the end of the previous year were announced at the welcome feast as well. And just as the Headmaster had promised, the school now had one for every year. And to make matters 'less complicated' as the Headmaster put it, each year's lounge was located on the floor that corresponded to their year. Which meant that Molly's year's lounge – the third year lounge – was the one on the third floor; the same room that last year had contained the only inter-house lounge. Not that Molly expected that she'd ever use it for anything. A lounge didn't have the same quiet dignity that a study room held.

To Molly's surprise and delight, however, Headmaster Slinkhard also announced the inauguration of four brand-new private study rooms in the library. It was explained that they could be booked through Madam Maxwell in the library and that they were for small groups of students to reserve for academic purposes only. Molly found herself very excited to test them out. So as soon as the welcome feast was over, she and her friends headed to the second floor to check out the library before heading up to their dorms.

When they arrived in the library, Molly was shocked at the sight before her. The entire architecture of the place had changed. While there used to be shelves to both the left and right wings of the library with small study areas interspersed throughout, now there was a large common area right at the front with tables and chairs, and it appeared as though all the shelves had been moved to the right wing of the library. On the left, a large wall had been erected with four doors and windows through which the girls could see the study rooms on the other side.

"Wow," Debbie commented, spinning around as she took it all in. "It sure is different in here."

"Yeah," Molly agreed, not sure how she felt about it. The shelves in the right wing looked really crammed. And what about students who liked studying between the shelves? It didn't look like there was much room left for that anymore.

"Do you girls like it?" Madam Maxwell asked, appearing from somewhere deep in the right wing of the library. "Headmaster Slinkhard and I worked hard on the design all summer. We weren't sure we'd have it all finished for today, but here we are."

"It's certainly changed," Julie said diplomatically. "Is there any chance we could take a look inside one of those study rooms?"

Madam Maxwell agreed readily, seemingly eager for some praise. The four girls chose the nearest room and entered slowly, scrutinizing the room carefully as they went.

The study room was bigger than the one the girls had created for themselves last year. It made sense of course, since the room was meant to be accommodating to small and large groups. Molly wasn't sure how she felt about the extra space. She'd always like the coziness of the study space.

The other thing Molly immediately didn't like about the room was that it contained one long table through the center of the space with chairs all around it. In their private study room, Molly and her friends had had desks to themselves, not a communal table. Molly liked having her own space and wasn't sure how she'd feel about sharing.

"It's really great!" Sarah said, noticing Madam Maxwell hovering by the doorway. "I'm excited to try it out. Can we book it for tomorrow afternoon?"

"Absolutely!" Madam Maxwell exclaimed enthusiastically. "You girls will be my first clients!"

As Madam Maxwell hurried to her desk to get the sign-up sheet, closely followed by Sarah and Debbie, Molly and Julie hung back.

"Not exactly what we're used to, huh?" Molly commented, sensing that Julie wasn't loving the space either.

Julie shook her head. "It's a nice idea, but it's now _ours_ ," she explained. "In our old room, we could store all our books, all our homework, everything, without having to carry it around everywhere. We made it our own. We'd be sharing this room with the entire school."

"Not to mention, there's only four rooms," Molly added. "What happens when they all get booked and we haven't reserved one? Then where do we go?"

"I doubt Madam Maxwell would let us reserve a room for the whole term, let alone the year," Julie nodded, understanding.

Molly sighed. "Well we have to at least test it out," she said. "We're the ones who brought the idea to Headmaster Slinkhard. It wouldn't look very good if we went back to our old ways without even trying it."

"You're right," Julie agreed. "But if we hate it, I say we go back to the fifth floor."

"Agreed," Molly said. Immediately, she felt better. They would give the new study space the benefit of the doubt, and then day after tomorrow, they'd be back in their old study space.

MmMmMmMmMmM

The next day was a disaster. After last period, the girls had headed to the library to use their reserved study space and had found it worse than expected. Not only was the space too big, the table too awkward, and the room too impersonal, but the window at the front of the room made everything extremely more distracting. Whenever Molly looked up from her homework, there was another student on the other side staring through the glass, watching her and her friends study.

"What do you expect they want?" Molly demanded, starting to feel a little self-conscious. "Don't they have lives of their own without spying on ours?"

"I'm sure they're just curious about the new rooms," Debbie said. "They aren't staring at _us_. Just the room."

Despite Debbie's assurances, Molly still felt like a fish in a bowl and ended up packing her things up early.

"Leaving already?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah," Molly nodded. "I can't study in here. I'm just going to go back to the common room for the night. At least there nobody will be staring at me."

"Won't it be extremely loud?" Debbie asked. "First day of school, not too many people are going to be back in school mode yet."

"I'll be fine," Molly muttered. "I'll make it work. Tomorrow we'll study on the fifth floor like usual?"

Her friends all nodded.

"Definitely," Julie agreed. "Oh, and if you're heading back to the common room, don't forget to sign up for Quidditch tryouts!"

"What?" Molly frowned, pausing on her way out the door. "Quidditch tryouts?"

"Yeah," Julie said looking up from her work with a confused expression. "Don't you remember? We all agreed in June that we'd try out this year. Didn't you practice this summer?"

"Oh," Molly said in shock. Of course she remembered the conversation, she just didn't expect that her friends had been serious. Molly had been sure, when the topic had never come up again, that her friends had all realized the folly of trying out for the Quidditch team and had refocused their efforts on school like she had. "Right," she muttered, scrambling for a response. "Yes, of course. I was just surprised because I didn't realize tryouts were this early in the year."

"Oh yes," Julie nodded. "The teams start training right away, so they can't wait on holding tryouts. The sign-up sheet should be posted on your common room's notice board. Our captain put ours up this morning."

"Well then I'll be sure to check it out," Molly declared. She was halfway out the door when Sarah spoke up.

"Hold on," she called out. "I'm coming with you. I can't study here another second. And this way I can get my name on the sign-up sheet as well."

"Great," Molly muttered, trying to think of a way out of this one. She certainly didn't see one. Her friends all thought she was on board. It looked like she was just going to have to go through with the tryouts, if only to prove how pointless the whole idea was in the first place.

MmMmMmMmMmM

The next afternoon, as soon as they got out of their first arithmancy class, the four third year girls headed straight for the fifth floor. However, when they arrived, they were met with an astonishing sight. Where there used to be several smaller abandoned classrooms at the end of the hallway, now there was one very large fifth year lounge. It appeared that the library hadn't been the only part of the castle to undergo renovations over the summer. Walls had been knocked down and put back up in different places, rooms had been combined, and the girls' old study room as they knew it was completely gone.

"Slinkhard did this on purpose," Julie immediately declared in an accusatory voice. "He knew we wouldn't like the study rooms in the library, so he built this here to stop us using our old room again."

"Or he thought the rooms in the library actually would work, and we wouldn't need our old space," Debbie suggested optimistically.

"Well whatever his motivation, we obviously can't study here anymore," Molly pointed out, feeling discouraged. "What are we supposed to do now?"

"We find a new space," Julie declared. "The castle is full of empty rooms and abandoned classrooms. There has to be another one that fits what we're looking for."

The other girls agreed that this was the best course of action, and so the four girls began to search the castle. They started on the fifth floor, where they were, but didn't find anything that was the right proportion. They moved to the fourth floor next, keeping to the end of the castle opposite where the hospital wing was located – if they studied too close to the hospital wing, they risked getting sick more often. It wasn't until they reached the third floor that they found a room that was suitable.

"This could work," Julie said, inspecting the room thoroughly. "And look, the view isn't terrible either."

Molly moved closer to the window and saw that it overlooked the lake.

"It's not ideal of course," Julie continued. "Admittedly the third floor is a little far from the seventh, but if we keep all our textbooks and things down here anyway, I don't see why we would need to trek up to the seventh floor more than once a day."

"It's better than anything we've seen so far," Sarah agreed. "And the sixth floor is kind of far from the library, which we would likely need to visit far more often that the dorms. If the sixth floor even had a suitable room, which we don't know yet. I say we go with this room."

"Go with this room for what?"

Molly practically jumped out of her skin at the unexpected voice. She and her friends turned around to find Professor Longbottom looming in the doorway with a sour expression on his face.

"Nothing!" Debbie rushed to say. "That is – well not nothing, obviously, but – "

"I know what you're doing here," the Professor declared. "Headmaster Slinkhard predicted this would happen, and I received word that the four of you had been seen wandering about the castle in a very atypical manner. You intend to put together another study space, as usual against the Headmaster's wishes."

"Well yes," Julie admitted. "But we've always been able to come to an agreement in the past – "

"I'm sorry girls, but that's not going to work this year," Professor Longbottom interrupted. "Headmaster Slinkhard has more than fulfilled his end of the bargain. Not only had he created seven different spaces for inter-house mingling, but he's also implemented four new study rooms in the library. Study rooms you girls requested. There will be no private study space this year."

"Can't we speak with the Headmaster?" Julie wondered. "Perhaps we can come to an arrangem – "

"No," Professor Longbottom interrupted once again. "The Headmaster's mind is made up. He let you have the study space when there weren't enough alternatives, but he was always clear that the study room was a temporary thing. However, going forward it simply wouldn't be fair to the other students to give your four special treatment."

"But – "

"And if you go against the Headmaster this time, you'll all be facing loss of house points, detention, and even possibly letters to your parents."

At this, Julie stopped trying to protest and stood in shocked silence.

"I hope I've made myself clear to you girls," Professor Longbottom said. "I don't like being the bad guy here, but you've made it necessary."

"We understand, Professor," Molly said when none of her friends spoke up. "We won't be any more trouble for you."

"Thank you," Professor Longbottom said. "I appreciate you not making this harder than it has to be," he added before turning and disappearing down the hall."

As soon as he was gone, Julie blew out a breath and crossed her arms.

"Well this totally sucks," she declared. "What are we supposed to do now?"

"I guess we're supposed to try to get used to the library," Debbie shrugged. "Figure out a way to be alright with it. Maybe it'll be better in the new study rooms, now that students have gotten a chance to get used to them. Maybe there won't be as much staring."

"They'll still have all the same other problems," Julie muttered. "And what, now we're going to have to carry around all our books all the time? Or will we be running up and down the stairs from the second to seventh floors all the time?"

"We'll just have to plan ahead," Debbie declared. "Decide at the beginning of the day what subjects we're each going to focus on. Or maybe we each bring books for different classes, and then we can share, so we each carry less."

"Well that's certainly not ideal," Julie muttered.

"No," Debbie agreed. "It's not. But it's manageable. We'll make it work."

"Yeah," Sarah nodded. "And besides, we have Quidditch tryouts this weekend, so that's something to look forward to!"

At this, Molly felt her blood freeze. The previous day, she'd gone ahead and put her name on the list for chasers along with Sarah, hoping that when the time came, her friends would have dropped their foolish notions and Molly wouldn't be required to try out. Now though, it was looking like it was really going to happen and Molly didn't know what she was going to do. She didn't even own a broom!

MmMmMmMmMmM

All too soon, Saturday arrived – the day of the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw Quidditch tryouts. Ravenclaw was in the morning, and Gryffindor was in the afternoon. Hufflepuff and Slytherin had the pitch booked for tryouts on Sunday.

Molly and Sarah awoke early Saturday morning and headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast where they met up with Debbie and Julie. Though Molly would certainly be more productive spending the morning working on her runic alphabet, her friends had decided that they would watch each others' tryouts to provide support.

When breakfast was over, the four girls headed straight down to the pitch. There was no telling how long tryouts could last, and so they had to start as early as possible. Sarah and Molly took seats in the stands while Debbie and Julie lined up on the pitch with the other Ravenclaw hopefuls. Julie was trying out for seeker, while Debbie was trying out for chaser like Molly and Sarah.

Seeker tryouts were held first. As Julie mounted her broom and prepared to face off with the other hopeful seekers – first to catch the snitch got the position – Molly turned to Sarah.

"How do you think she'll react if she doesn't make the team?" she wondered.

"Don't think like that," Sarah insisted. "We have to think positive."

"Right," Molly muttered, feeling conflicted. She wanted to be supportive, but at the same time didn't want any of her friends to make the team.

When Julie caught the snitch, Molly was speechless. Though she'd of course known that there was a possibility one or more of her friends would make their respective teams, she hadn't really considered it as a potential reality.

Molly was practically glued to her seat as the chaser tryouts came up next and before she knew it, Debbie had made the team too.

"How did this happen?" she asked Sarah, dumbfounded. "How did they both make the team? We're only third years? Aren't there more experienced players out there? Older students with more skill?"

"Weren't you paying attention?" Sarah asked. "Didn't you see their tryouts? They were amazing! I'm certainly not surprised they made the team. Especially after all the work they put in this summer."

Molly had to admit that she hadn't really paid attention to their tryouts. Or she had, but she didn't know enough to tell whether they were flying well or not. She hadn't studied Quidditch, or practiced it all summer like her friends had. She'd thought the whole thing was a joke. And now things were spiralling out of control. Two of her friends had made the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. Did they have any idea what this was going to do to their academic careers?

Molly was very quiet at lunch. Sarah congratulated Julie and Debbie on their success, and the Ravenclaws tried to reassure Sarah and Molly that they would certainly make the Gryffindor team that afternoon. But Molly was still reeling from the realization that all of a sudden, everything was changing. This was going to affect everything! Quidditch practices were rumored to be long and brutal. Her friends' study time was going to be seriously reduced, and it was likely they were going to be a lot more tired than normal. In a passing thought, it occurred to Molly that maybe it didn't matter than the Headmaster wouldn't let them have their study room this year, because it wasn't as though they were going to be able to use it.

When the girls finished lunch, they headed back down to the pitch for the Gryffindor tryouts. This time, Debbie and Julie took seats in the stands while Molly and Sarah joined the hopeful Gryffindors on the pitch.

The Quidditch team Captain, Kurt Robins, divided them into groups based on what position they were trying out for. Sarah and Molly joined the group of potential chasers while the other groups formed nearby. Then Kurt declared that he would be holding the chaser tryouts first and ordered the other three groups to sit on the edge of the field where they wouldn't be in the way.

"Alright chasers, mount your brooms and we'll start the tryout," Kurt declared.

As if for the first time, Sarah and Molly both became aware of the fact that Molly didn't have a broom.

"Did you forget your broom in the dorm?" Sarah frowned. "How do you expect to tryout if you're stuck on the ground?"

"That's alright," Kurt said, coming over. "You can borrow a school broom from the broom shed for today. But if you make the team, I'll expect you not to forget things like this again."

Molly frowned, looking around at the other hopeful Gryffindor chasers and realized that the notion of her making the team was absurd. She hadn't flown since flying classes in first year, and she certainly didn't have any interest in being on the Quidditch team. She was only here because she'd felt pressured by her friends, and suddenly that didn't seem a good enough reason.

"Actually, no," Molly said, making up her mind. "I don't think I'm going to try out after all."

"Suit yourself," Kurt said, turning back to the rest of the group.

"You're not?" Sarah asked, confused. "But why not?"

"Because I don't want to be on the Quidditch team," Molly declared, feeling good about her decision. "I just want to study. I don't want to have to divide my energy."

"But we agreed we'd all try out together," Sarah protested.

"And you should go ahead and try out," Molly said, gesturing towards the other chasers, who had all mounted their brooms and were hovering a few feet off the ground in a circle. "But I think I'd rather be in the library."

Without waiting for Sarah to respond, Molly turned around and walked right off the Quidditch pitch. She could hear Debbie and Julie's voices calling after her, demanding to know where she was going, but Molly didn't stop or turn around to explain. She'd had enough of this. Her friends could do what they wanted, but she wasn't going to follow along just for the sake of it. Molly knew what she wanted and that's what she was going to do. And today, it was memorize the runic alphabet.


	22. October Year 3

_Year 3: Left Behind_

Chapter 22: October 2016

Somehow, Molly wasn't overly surprised when Sarah made Gryffindor's Quidditch team. Julie, Debbie, and Sarah had always been good at everything academically, it was no surprise really that they were good at sports too. But with their new schedules packed full of Quidditch training, suddenly Molly's friends found themselves scrambling to get everything done.

"Molly, have you seen my transfiguration textbook?" Sarah demanded one morning. Molly was still in bed, but Sarah had an early morning Quidditch practice that she needed to get to.

"No," Molly murmured, rolling over in an attempt to return to the blissful state of half-sleep that she'd been in before Sarah had started hollering.

"Ugh, I can't find it!" Sarah cried. "I need it to finish my essay for Professor Tonks. If I don't hand it in today with the rest of you, I'll get points off for being late!"

"I don't understand why you didn't finish it last night," Molly grumbled. "It would be a whole lot less stressful you know."

Sarah made a noise. "Well I didn't have time last night, because I was working on my potions essay for Professor Abbott-Longbottom."

"Wasn't that due yesterday?" Molly frowned as she sat up and wiped the sleep from her eyes. She obviously wasn't going to get any more sleep, so she might as well get up and take advantage of the morning to revise her arithmancy notes. She had it on good authority that there was going to be a pop quiz sometime this week and she wanted to be ready.

"She gave me an extension," Sarah replied. "I'm going to bring it to her at lunch."

"An extension?" Molly said, the word feeling foreign in her mouth. Since when was Sarah the kind of person to take an extension on homework?

"Yeah," Sarah nodded. "Julie and Debbie got them too."

"Huh," Molly muttered. She couldn't understand why they even needed the extension. Sure, they were all busier now with Quidditch, but school still took priority, right?

"Here it is!" Sarah cried, locating her transfiguration textbook.

"Don't you have practice this morning?" Molly frowned. When was Sarah going to have time to finish her essay anyway? "You realize we have transfiguration first thing."

"If I skip shower and breakfast, I should have just enough time to get it done," Sarah declared, already halfway out the door. "I'll see you in class Molly!"

"Yeah," Molly nodded, waving at the empty doorway as Sarah disappeared down the stairs. "See you in class."

MmMmMmMmMmM

Sarah almost didn't make it to transfiguration class on time. She flew in through the door just as Professor Tonks was picking up the class list to do the roll call. When she sat down next to Molly, Molly noted that her hair was a mess, her face was flushed, and she smelled like a mud puddle.

"What happened to you?" Molly demanded.

"Practice ran long," Sarah muttered. "Had to finish my essay in the locker room and then run to make it on time."

"You did your homework in the locker room?" Molly frowned, thinking that it was hardly the place for serious work.

"It's not like I had much of a choice," Sarah muttered, pulling her materials out of her bag and placing her homework essay on the desk in front of her. Molly glanced at it and saw that the writing was messy and even a little illegible in parts. She could already see three grammatical errors, and that was just in looking over the first paragraph.

"Don't you think it would have maybe been better to take the late penalty if it meant getting more time to work on it?" Molly wondered. If it were her, she would never hand in such a disaster of an essay.

"There's no point," Sarah shook her head. "I still have all my other work piling up. I have the charms essay still to write, and that's due tomorrow. Then there's the herbology reading and the defence assignment, not to mention I haven't studied arithmancy at all yet!"

"Wow," Molly muttered in surprise. She had already finished everything on that list and was shocked to hear that Sarah was so behind. "Um, listen… don't you think maybe it would be easier if you just quit the Quidditch team? Then you wouldn't be so behind on everything."

"What?" Sarah asked, in disbelief. "Quit the team? I couldn't do that. Besides, it's good for me to have a more well-rounded school experience."

Molly opened her mouth to respond, but Professor Tonks had now finished the roll call and was starting the lesson. So instead, Molly turned her attention on her Professor and began to take diligent notes on the lecture, forcing herself to focus on inanimate to animate transfiguration theory.

MmMmMmMmMmM

"Can I borrow someone's herbology textbook?" Debbie asked that afternoon as the four girls studied in one of the private study rooms in the library. Neither the Gryffindor nor the Ravenclaw Quidditch teams had practice that afternoon, giving the four girls one of their now rare chances to study all together.

"You can borrow mine," Julie offered, reaching into her bag and passing it over. "I don't think I'm going to bother doing the reading anyway."

"What?" Molly asked, barely believing her ears. Had Julie just said she wasn't planning on doing the required reading.

Julie looked up with a puzzled expression. "What's the big deal?" she wondered. "It's not like I didn't read it once over the summer. I'm just not going to bother re-reading it, since I already know what it says. I have to prioritize my work now, you know."

"Right," Molly nodded, deciding not to argue the point. She often tried with Sarah to make her friend see reason, but Julie was much more hard-headed than Sarah was, and if Sarah was refusing to budge, then Julie certainly wouldn't.

Molly turned back to her ancient runes homework and tried to focus on that. As a way to get the third years to learn to quickly recognize runic numbers, Professor Thicket had created a worksheet of very basic math equations. All the numbers were written in runes, which meant that first Molly had to translate them into English, then do the equation (that part wasn't very hard), and then translate the answer back into runes to give the solution. It was quite challenging, and Molly was loving it.

"Hey, does anyone remember the rune for 'seven'?" Molly asked, getting stuck on one of the questions. She had managed to translate the 'five' rune and the 'two' rune, and she'd added them together easily enough, but she was having trouble putting the answer down in runic form.

"Seriously?" Julie demanded. "You think any of us is even close to working on our ancient runes homework? It was only assigned today. There's a lot of other work we have to get through before we can even think about runes."

"I know, I know," Molly said, immediately on the defensive. Julie could be so aggressive at times. "I just wondered if any of you remembered it from the lesson."

Molly looked in Sarah and Debbie's directions, hoping for a more sympathetic response, but neither was even paying attention to Molly or Julie, so engrossed they were in the work they were doing.

"Just look it up in your notes," Julie said, sounding exasperated. "Merlin knows you have the time to spare."

"Fine," Molly said, shaking her head as she reached into her bag and pulled out her notes for the day, flipping through them until she found the right spot.

As she copied the 'seven' rune onto her assignment sheet, Molly found herself feeling a little hurt. The four of them had always been comfortable throwing out random questions as they did their homework, and it had never been a problem before. But now Julie was acting like Molly was bothering her, like Molly was an inconvenience. Then again, maybe it was better this way. Molly shouldn't rely on her friends' help so much. She should be able to find the answers she needed on her own, without always asking someone for the answer. So maybe it was a good thing after all that her friends were all suddenly so busy. At least it would give Molly the chance to be a little more independent.

MmMmMmMmMmM

The following week, Professor Tonks handed back the transfiguration essays that the third years had written. Molly was pleased when she received hers to see a bright red O at the top of the page. But when she turned to compare with Sarah, she found that Sarah had already shoved her essay inside her bag and she was staring straight ahead at the empty blackboard. Molly presumed that Sarah had not done as well as she'd hoped and Molly became even more curious as to Sarah's grade.

"Hey," Molly said, feeling brave. "How'd you do?"

"S'not important," Sarah shrugged, eyes never moving from their position.

Sensing from Sarah's tone that she shouldn't push, Molly backed off, placing her own essay in her bag and preparing her quill for note-taking.

MmMmMmMmMmM

That afternoon, there was a Ravenclaw Quidditch practice immediately after last period, leaving Molly and Sarah to study without Julie and Debbie. Molly had tried to book a study room for just the two of them, but Madam Maxwell's rules were that the room could only be booked for a minimum of three students, which left Sarah and Molly to study in the library common area.

"Well this isn't so bad," Molly muttered, moments before a pack of sixth year Slytherins entered the library being loud and disruptive. Molly sighed. "I spoke too soon."

Molly was in luck though. Sarah hadn't been listening to a word she'd said, and remained engrossed in the work she was doing.

When it was getting close to dinner time, Molly declared that they should probably pack up for the time being and head to the Great Hall. Sarah agreed, but claimed she needed another ten minutes to finish her assignment, since Gryffindor Quidditch practice was happening immediately following dinner and she'd likely be too tired to finish it post-practice.

While Sarah was finishing up with that, Molly grabbed the History of Magic textbook that she'd borrowed from the library and headed back into the stacks to put it back in place. Of course, she could have just put it on the miscellaneous shelf for Madam Maxwell to put back, but Molly figured since she had the time, she'd lend a hand.

The stacks had been completely rearranged in the renovation of the library, moving the history section to the back of the library, right on the edge of where the restricted section started. Molly located the correct shelf and slid the book back onto it before heading back to collect Sarah for dinner.

As Molly was about to emerge from the shelves, she heard familiar voices and stopped in her tracks. It was Julie, Debbie, and Sarah's voices, which was surprising because Julie and Debbie had had practice and Molly had assumed they would be late to dinner. Curious as to what they were talking about, Molly hung back and eavesdropped on her friends.

"…never got an A before!" she heard Sarah saying. "I mean, I figured maybe I'd end up with an E, but an A? I barely passed!"

Molly realized that Sarah was talking about her transfiguration essay. Upon realizing this, Molly found herself wondering why Sarah was so surprised with an A. With all those grammatical errors, she was lucky she passed at all!

"Don't worry Sarah, it's normal for grades to slip a bit at the beginning. You just have to get used to the new schedule and then everything will be right again," Debbie said.

"Yeah," Julie agreed. "And it's not like we haven't gotten a few A's since we joined the Ravenclaw team. Debbie got an A on that last astronomy assignment, and I got an A in potions one time."

"And you've still got O's in other classes, right?" Debbie pointed out.

"Well yeah," Sarah nodded. "Alright, I guess one A isn't going to ruin my life."

Molly frowned. Were these really her friends having this conversation? It sounded like their voices, but the words coming out of their mouths were crazy.

"Seriously?" She couldn't help crying out. Now that her cover was blown, Molly emerged from behind the bookshelf and joined her friends at the table she and Sarah had been studying at. "So you're all just fine getting A's now? Who are you and what have you done with my friends?"

"Nice to know you were eavesdropping," Julie said accusatorily.

"Well sorry, but if you're going to discuss your grades in the middle of the library, then you have to be aware that people are going to hear you," Molly pointed out.

"Look," Debbie said. "We're not ashamed of our grades. I for one am pulling O's in everything but astronomy and transfiguration, and in those I'm pulling E's except for that one A in astronomy that I'm sure you heard about. So I think I'm doing pretty well."

"Pretty well?" Molly cried. "What happened to being the top students in our year? Have you all forgotten about that?"

"We can still be the top students in our year," Julie protested. "As soon as we get everything under control, figure out a proper schedule for everything, balancing Quidditch and school."

"But that's the point," Molly insisted. "You can't be the best in school if your attention is divided. If you spend half your time on school work and half your time on Quidditch, then you're going to do half as well at both. You can't be the best at everything, you know."

"Maybe you couldn't, but don't think you can speak for the rest of us!" Julie cried. "Just because you decided not to try out for the Quidditch team at the last minute, don't make us out to be something we're not. We all agreed that this was a good idea, you just couldn't go through with it."

"I _never_ thought joining the Quidditch teams was a good idea!" Molly cried. "I just never thought any of you were serious about it. I figured you'd come to your senses eventually, but you haven't. And now your grades are suffering for it, and I'm the only one maintaining a straight O average."

"Well then you should be happy then," Julie declared. "As the only student with a straight O average, you're the top of the class. You've won."

Molly opened her mouth and shut it again. Julie was right. Why was she so upset? Her friends joining the Quidditch team was exactly what she'd needed to put her over the edge. Since her first day, her goal had been to beat all her friends and be at the top of the class, and now she was. So why was she trying so hard to convince her friends to change their minds?

"I – I don't – " Molly stammered. "I guess you're right," she said. But as she thought about it a moment longer, she knew that they weren't.

Molly didn't want to be top of the class because her friends had failed. She wanted to be top of the class because she'd found a way to go above and beyond. She wanted her friends – no she needed her friends – to challenge her academically. She needed them to push her to work harder. Because without worthy competitors, winning a competition just didn't mean as much. And suddenly it felt like none of her friends even wanted to compete.

But in that moment, Molly also knew that her friends were never going to listen to her. They were all so excited about being on their Quidditch teams that they couldn't see the damage they were doing to their academic careers. Maybe one day they would see reason, hopefully soon. But Molly knew she had to let them come to the realization on their own.

"Let's just go and eat," Debbie suggested when nobody spoke up.

"Yes, I'm starving," Julie agreed. "That was one hell of a workout we just finished."

"And I need to fuel up," Sarah declared. "We've got practice tonight, and Kurt says he's got something new planned for the chasers.

"Molly?" Debbie asked when the three girls moved forward and Molly hung back. "Are you coming?"

"In a minute," Molly assured them, watching them nod, turn, and leave the library.

The only one left, Molly slowly sunk into a chair and tried to calm her spinning mind. All this time, she'd been trying to convince herself that nothing had changed. That her friends were just going through a phase, but that they'd quickly realize Quidditch had been a mistake and then things would go back to the way they'd been before. But that wasn't going to happen. Things weren't going to go back to the way they'd been last year or the year before. There would be no more studying in their study room, no more of everybody working on the same homework at the same time and helping each other out. Molly's friends were moving on without her, and if they were going to adapt, Molly would find a way to adapt too.


	23. November Year 3

_Year 3: Left Behind_

Chapter 23: November 2016

With the arrival of November, a wave of excitement ran through all the third years. Now that they were old enough to go, they were all preparing for their first Hogsmeade weekend with anticipation. Molly and her friends were no exception.

"Of course, it'll be a complete inconvenience to take an entire day off just to visit a silly little village," Julie said one afternoon. "Especially considering the stress that's come with joining the Quidditch teams."

"I agree," Sarah concurred. "Not to mention the library will be nice and quiet with everybody gone, and we'll probably be able to get tons of quality studying done."

Molly nodded along. Though she didn't have the same problem as her friends with regards to being behind on her schoolwork, she still couldn't deny that a day spent in Hogsmeade would be a waste, especially now that she had two extra classes to study for. She certainly wouldn't remain top of her class if she joined in with her classmates' frivolity.

"So we're all on the same page then," Debbie surmised. "Going to Hogsmeade would be irresponsible."

"Extremely irresponsible," Julie confirmed.

"Incredibly irresponsible," Molly repeated.

There was a long pause as the four girls stared at each other, each waiting for another to say what they were all thinking. In the end, it was Debbie who broke the silence.

"So we're going to Hogsmeade then?" she asked.

"Oh definitely," Julie nodded.

"No question," Molly agreed.

"How could we not go?" Sarah wondered.

And with that it was decided.

MmMmMmMmMmM

When the day of the Hogsmeade weekend arrived, Molly was over the moon excited. There were so many places she'd heard of that she wanted to visit. Tomes and Scrolls was supposed to have an amazing rare books collection unlike any she'd ever seen before, Scrivenshaft's was sure to be an absolute haven for the diligent note-taker, and Molly even found herself excited to visit Honeydukes and the Three Broomsticks, so renowned they were amongst Hogwarts students.

"Where should we go first?" Debbie wondered as the four girls walked the long path from Hogwarts to Hogsmeade.

"We should be practical about this," Julie declared. "The shops are mostly along the main street, as I've heard, so we should pick a side and work our way down to the end and then come back up the other."

"That makes sense," Molly agreed, appreciating the logic of not wandering from shop to shop back and forth through the village all day. "But it is almost lunch time. Shouldn't we consider starting with food and working our way from there?"

"I've heard that the Three Broomsticks is close to the entrance of the village," Sarah jumped in. "What if we chose that side to start, and then when we get to the pub that's when we stop for lunch?"

"Yeah, that works," Molly agreed, her hunger concerns assuaged.

So when the girls arrived in Hogsmeade, they immediately identified the side of the street on which the Three Broomsticks was located and started their exploration.

The first shop in the row was a cauldron shop, which the girls explored interestedly for a few minutes before moving on. None of them needed to buy a new cauldron, so there was no reason to linger.

Next was a music shop, which the girls entered mostly for the sake of being able to say they'd done it, but not because they were at all interested in the shop itself. Many Hogwarts students were already milling around inside, making it even less inviting – Molly didn't particularly love being in a crowd.

The next building in the row was the Three Broomsticks, which like the music shop was packed with students. Molly and her friends chose to tolerate the crowd here though, as they were hungry and had heard that the Hog's Head wasn't a particularly clean establishment, especially under the new ownership that had been running it since Aberforth Dumbledore's death.

Debbie volunteered to locate a table while the other girls went to place their orders, handing Julie a bit of money and telling her what she would like. Pushing her way through hoards of Hogwarts students, Molly slowly made her way up to the bar and placed her order for a bowl of soup, along with her friend's orders once they caught up to her. They also ordered four butterbeers, which were ready immediately, and pointed out the table Debbie had found so that the waitress would be able to find them once their food was ready.

"Well this is certainly an experience," Sarah said once the four girls were all seated around the very small table Debbie had managed to snatch.

"Can't visit Hogsmeade without lunching at the Three Broomsticks," Debbie agreed.

"I think in the future, I might just eat in the Great Hall though," Julie volunteered. "Unless the food here is spectacular or something, I'm not sure it would be worth it to deal with such a large crowd every time there's a Hogsmeade weekend."

The conversation was cut off by the arrival of their food, and the girls descended into silence as they began to eat.

"Not bad," Molly commented after a few sips of her soup. "Nothing special though. The elves do just as fine a job as they do here."

"Plus, the Great Hall is free," Sarah pointed out. "Here we have to pay."

"An excellent point," Julie said, pointing her fork in Sarah's direction. "So we're all agreed then? Next time we have lunch before we come to the village?"

"Next time I might not come to the village," Molly spoke up. "It's one thing to come when it's the first Hogsmeade weekend ever. Obviously, we had to experience it. But unless there was a pressing reason, I don't see why I would come back next month in lieu of studying all day."

"You mean this is the only time you're ever going to come to Hogsmeade?" Sarah asked in surprise.

"I didn't say that," Molly frowned. "Only that I wouldn't come again unless I had a good reason. If I needed to replenish my potions stores or pick up a book that I couldn't get by owl-order or something."

"But Hogsmeade weekends are a Hogwarts tradition," Debbie said in confusion. "I thought we agreed that it was worth missing the study day to participate."

"Once maybe, but not all the time," Molly frowned. She was starting to get annoyed now. She'd thought they'd all been on the same page about this trip. It was supposed to be a one time thing to have the experience. Now her friends wanted to blow off studying every month for this?

"Let's not argue about this now," Julie said diplomatically. "We're all here now, let's just try to enjoy today and we'll worry about the December weekend when it gets here."

Reluctantly, Molly let the subject drop and finished her soup in silence. After finishing their lunches, the girls were eager to get out of the crowded restaurant and complete their tour of the village, so instead of lingering, they relinquished their table to some waiting patrons and headed back outside.

The next shop in the row was the apothecary, which Molly found fascinating. There were some potions ingredients there that even Professor Abbott-Longbottom didn't have in her storeroom. Molly wondered what sort of potions they might be used for – they certainly weren't meant for any potions she'd learned about yet. She took a mental not of some of their names and resolved to look them up in the library later.

After the apothecary came Spintwitches sporting goods store. Upon reading the name of the store, Molly immediately wanted to vote that they skip over it. Unfortunately, she knew that there was no point even saying it out loud. Her friends were surely eager to check it out, and if they hadn't skipped the music shop, then why would they skip the Quidditch shop? Molly could only hope they wouldn't be stuck lingering here long.

"Ooh! Look at the Seeker's gloves!" Julie exclaimed, running over to a nearby display case the minute they entered the shop.

"Look at these brooms!" Sarah cried, heading straight for the wall of brooms on the far end of the shop.

"This place is amazing!" Debbie said, looking from display to display, seeming unable to decide where to start her shopping.

Noting a bench in the footwear section, Molly headed over a took a seat, figuring she could give her friends a few minutes before shepherding them to the next shop. There was really no point in her looking around though, since she wasn't interested in sports in the least.

About twenty minutes later though, Molly was starting to get impatient. None of her friends had made any indication of being close to finished, and Molly was anxious to get moving. There were still many shops to visit and she didn't want to be forced to cut her time in a more interesting shop short because she'd been forced to spend the afternoon here.

"Hey guys?" Molly called out to her friends. "Can we get moving now?"

"Just a few more minutes Molly," Sarah requested. "Can you even believe this place?"

"I really can't," Molly muttered to herself. "Seriously though, come on. It's time to move on to the next shop."

"You go if you want to Molly," Julie said absentmindedly as she examined a display of practice snitches. "We'll catch up."

"I thought the point of today was to explore the village together?" Molly asked. "Now you want to split up?"

"If you don't want to split up, then you'll just have to wait a little longer," Julie said, tearing her gaze away from the snitches. "Because the three of us are having a find time here."

"But if we went to… say, Tomes and Scrolls, then all four of us could be having a good time," Molly pointed out. "Wouldn't that make more sense?"

"Molly, we're not going to not spend time in a shop we're interested in just because you don't want to be here. We certainly lingered in that apothecary longer than we would have, because you wanted to explore the dangerous ingredients section," Julie replied.

"I didn't realize I was the only one interested in that," Molly said. "If you'd said something I'd have hurried it up."

"No you wouldn't have," Julie muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Excuse me?" Molly cried, offended by Julie's attitude.

"I said no you wouldn't have," Julie repeated louder. "I know you Molly, and I know if we'd asked you to hurry up in the apothecary, you'd have just made a speech about why we should be interested in the dangerous ingredients too. Now that it's the other way around though, you're insisting that we all just pick up and leave Spintwitches? Why are you always more important than the group?"

"I don't think I'm more important than the group," Molly cried. "Where did you get that idea?"

"You didn't want to take flying lessons with us in second year, you didn't want to try out for Quidditch with us this year. Molly whenever we want to do something that we want to do, you're always saying no. Why can't you do something some time just because we're doing it, even if it's not your favorite thing?"

"Why should I have to?" Molly demanded.

At this point, Sarah and Debbie had both abandoned the displays they'd been looking at and had come to watch the argument unfold.

"Because that's what friends do!" Julie cried.

"Okay hold on you two," Debbie said, stepping between the girls to try to dissipate some of the negative energy. "I think this has gotten a little out of hand. Let's just backpedal a little bit and get back to where this all started."

"Right," Molly nodded. "I think we should go next door to Scrivenshaft's now."

"And I think I'm still not done here," Julie retorted.

"Okay," Debbie said. "Molly, why don't you go over to Scrivenchaft's, and we'll join you there as soon as we're done here?"

Molly sighed. The point had been for all of them to go over together, but after her yelling match with Julie, she wasn't much in the mood for arguing.

"Fine," Molly agreed, turning around and leaving. "I'll be at Scrivenshaft's."

As it turned out, Scrivenshaft's was even more amazing than Molly had been told. She was enthralled by the various types of parchment, quills, and ink that the shop sold. She spent almost half an hour just marvelling at all the things she wished she could buy, and even did indulge and buy herself a new quill. For a while, she even forgot about her friends over at Spintwitches. But once she was ready to move on, she realized that in all the time she'd been at Scrivenshaft's, her friends still hadn't left Spintwitches.

Annoyed and feeling a little self-righteous, Molly marched over to Spintwitches ready to make another speech about friends sticking together and how her friends were being selfish spending so much time in a shop Molly couldn't enjoy. But when Molly walked into the Quidditch shop, her friends were nowhere to be seen.

"Excuse me?" Molly said, walking up to the counter. "I was in here earlier with three of my friends, and I was just wondering if you knew where they'd gone?"

"They left about fifteen minutes ago," the witch behind the counter replied. "Said something about maybe checking out Tomes and Scrolls next. You might want to try there."

Thanking the witch, Molly turned and left the shop, a frown forming on her face. Tomes and Scrolls was across the street. They weren't meant to visit it for a while yet – not until they'd finished their row of shops and made their way back up the other side. The witch in Spintwitches must have been mistaken. But when Molly stepped out onto the street and looked in through the window of the bookshop, she saw her friends browsing the shelves, completely oblivious to her presence out on the street.

Filled with emotions Molly didn't know how to process, she turned and ran, not knowing where she was going, but knowing she needed to be somewhere else. She spotted her uncles' store and decided to go inside there, figuring that her Uncle George would be in and that maybe he could make sense of what she was feeling.

George was with a customer when Molly flew into Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, but as soon as he saw Molly's distressed face, he passed the customer off to one of his employees and came over to her.

"Molly, what's the matter?" George asked. "You look distraught."

"I feel distraught," Molly agreed, liking her uncle's choice of wording. Usually he was rather ineloquent, but distraught fit her state perfectly.

"Did something happen?" George asked.

Molly frowned and nodded. "I'm not entirely sure what happened though," Molly said, realizing that in addition to being distraught, she was also confused. Why would her friends go into Tomes and Scrolls, knowing Molly was in Scrivenshaft's? And why would they go to a shop they knew Molly was dying to visit without her?

"Why don't you come into the back room with me and explain?" George suggested, leading Molly behind the counter and into the back where only the employees were supposed to go. There was a small office in the back with a small lounge area, and George sat in one armchair while Molly sat down across from him in the other.

"Where should I start?" Molly wondered, feeling weird now that she was here. How was Uncle George supposed to help her anyway? She should've just gone back to the castle.

"Start at the beginning," George suggested.

And so Molly did, beginning as far back as the beginning of the year with Quidditch tryouts, all the way up to the events that had just transpired in the village.

"So you feel left out?" George surmised once Molly was finished.

Molly pondered the words for a moment, testing them out before committing to them. And in doing so, she realized that this was exactly what she'd been feeling all year – left out.

"I don't understand it," Molly insisted. "It's not like I wanted to be on the Quidditch team, so why do I now feel sad that I'm not?"

"Because your friends are on their teams, and you aren't. You aren't a part of it. You can't participate in it with them. That's what makes you feel bad," he explained.

"But I don't want to participate in it," Molly protested.

"In Quidditch you don't, but in friendship I think you do," George said. "And right now it seems like the two are tied up together pretty tightly, and that's causing you problems. You just have to find a way to connect with your friends that isn't Quidditch. How did you used to connect?"

"Schoolwork," Molly said bitterly. "But we can't even connect with that now that Quidditch has gotten in the way."

"Okay," George nodded. "Well is there anything else?"

Molly thought about it for a moment. "Not really," she admitted. "Our friendship has always been pretty single-minded. We always had one sole purpose – getting good grades. And now they've all changed their perspective and I just don't understand it."

"And you feel not only left out, but maybe a little left behind?" George guessed.

"Yeah," Molly sighed. "Yeah, I guess I do."

MmMmMmMmMmM

Molly and George talked for a while longer, but eventually George had to go take care of some crisis with a knocked over display and Molly had to start heading back to Hogwarts. Though nothing had been resolved in their conversation, Molly felt a little better having talked things through. At least now she had a better understanding of her own feelings, which was a start.

When she arrived back at the castle, Molly wondered where she should go. She wanted to apologize to Julie for yelling at her in Spintwitches, but wasn't sure where Julie would be, or even if she was back from the village yet. Deciding her apology could wait until dinner, Molly headed up to the Gryffindor common room to change and maybe take a quick shower.

When Molly arrived in her dormitory though, it was to find that Sarah was already there, meaning her friends had indeed returned from the village. Molly entered the room tentatively, nervous as to what Sarah's reaction to her presence might be.

"Hey," Molly ventured when Sarah didn't immediately notice her.

"Molly!" Sarah cried, jumping in surprise. "I didn't hear you come in!"

"Sorry," Molly said, not sure why she should apologize for Sarah's lack of hearing.

"Listen," Sarah said slowly, "I'm guessing you're a little mad right now…"

"Mad?" Molly frowned in confusion. Why would she be mad? Shouldn't Julie be mad for Molly exploding at her before?

"Yeah, for us all ditching you before," Sarah explained.

And suddenly Molly remembered what her friends had done and why she'd been so upset in the first place.

"Oh… right. I am mad actually!" Molly said, her voice rising in volume.

"Well just hear me out before you start yelling again," Sarah said, raising her arms in defence.

Molly nodded to indicate that Sarah should go on.

"After that little scene in Spintwitches with you and Julie… well Julie was feeling a bit attacked. Actually we all were. You might have been arguing with Julie, but you were yelling at all three of us. We just needed some time to cool off. We figured we'd visit a few shops without you while you were in Scrivenshaft's, and then once we were all feeling calmer, we'd meet up again. But then we couldn't find you after and so we had no choice but to continue without you."

Molly nodded, not entirely happy with the explanation, but understanding it nonetheless. "Listen Sarah, it's fine, really," she said. "Um, do you mind if I take a shower?"

"Go ahead," Sarah agreed, clearly eager to make everything normal again.

As Molly headed into the bathroom alone though, she couldn't help but think to herself that things couldn't be normal again. Her friends were leaving her behind and Molly didn't know what to do about it.


	24. December Year 3

_Year 3: Left Behind_

Chapter 24: December 2016

Over the next few weeks, things only seemed to get worse. At first, Molly had hoped she could patch things up quickly with Julie and the others and move on, but it seemed that Julie didn't want to forget about the things that had been said. More and more, Molly found herself studying alone in the library while her friends went off to practice Quidditch. Sometimes all three of Molly's friends would claim to have Quidditch practice at the same time and Molly was too afraid to rock the boat to comment on the unlikelihood that the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor Quidditch teams were sharing the pitch.

One day at dinner, Molly was sitting at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, waiting for her friends to get back from Quidditch practice. She'd spent most of the day alone already – at lunch her three friends had claimed to have to go to the after hours potions lab to see Professor Abbott-Longbottom about doing some extra credit to make up for their less-than-stellar work recently. Molly had volunteered to go with them, but they'd insisted that she remain in the library and work on her arithmancy homework instead, which she did. And as soon as classes were over for the day, the three girls had trooped down to the Quidditch pitch, leaving Molly by herself in the library once again. Molly was looking forward to seeing them.

Just then, Molly heard the Great Hall doors open and she turned to see who it was. Her eyes rested on her three friends, standing in a group in the entryway and scanning the room, probably for Molly. She raised her hand in the air and waved it a bit to get their attention, and it worked. Julie's eyes met Molly's and then Julie's mouth opened and she said something to Debbie and Sarah who also turned and met Molly's gaze. Then, as one, the three girls turned and took seats at the end of the Ravenclaw table, Sarah and Julie turning their backs to Molly and Debbie avoiding eye contact.

Molly's heart sunk. Ever since Hogsmeade, her friends had acted a little cooler towards her. They spent less time together and certainly talked less when they were all together. Molly had learned that posing homework questions to the group was no longer acceptable, and instead she would look them up for herself in her textbook. She'd also learned to avoid the topic of Quidditch like the plague, lest she start another disagreement. She'd thought she'd figured out a pretty good rhythm and couldn't imagine what had changed in the space of a day.

Molly debated whether to get up and go over to the Ravenclaw table with her friends, but decided in the end that it would be a bad idea. Her friends had made it pretty clear that they didn't want her sitting with them. She would try approaching them later, she figured, and for the moment, she focused on her mashed potatoes and peas.

Molly waited for her friends to finish their supper before getting up from the Gryffindor table. She knew they had to be going to the library and wanted them to sit down first lest they pull the same stunt they'd pulled at dinner. After waiting an appropriate amount of time, Molly too stood up, grabbing her bag, and began to head in the direction of the library.

The walk wasn't long, and with all the cardio Molly got walking up and down the stairs of Hogwarts castle day in and day out it certainly wasn't strenuous, but as Molly approached the library doors, her legs started to feel weak. She worried she might fall over if she kept walking, but knew if she stopped she might not complete the trip to the library.

When she arrived at the library doors, she paused for a moment to take a quick scan of the room. Her friends were sitting not far from the entrance at a table with six chairs – plenty of room for Molly to slip in. Taking a deep breath, Molly took one step and then another until she came to the table and pulled out one of the chairs. It had a bag on it, so Molly turned to Julie to ask her to remove it.

"Sorry," Julie said, not sounding sorry at all. "If I put my bag on the floor, it could get dirty. This seat is taken."

Molly felt a weight fall through to the pit of her stomach and sucked up her courage to go around to the next empty chair, which also appeared to have a bag on it.

"Sarah?" she inquired, her voice small.

Sarah glanced up at Molly and shook her head. "I don't want my bag to get stepped on," she said. "You'll have to sit somewhere else."

The weight in her stomach doubled in size and Molly fought the urge to cry right there. She walked around the table to the final chair and pulled it out to find Debbie's bag comfortably perched on the seat. Molly didn't need to say anything this time. Instead, Debbie looked up at her with apologetic eyes.

"Come on Molly, can't you get the hint?" Debbie pleaded, almost begging Molly not to push the issue. But as much as Molly wanted to run, she wasn't one to back down, and she wanted to know the truth.

"Why don't you clarify it for me?" Molly managed to ask.

Julie sighed loudly and threw her quill down, crossing her arms in front of her. "Obviously it's that we're not interested in studying with you," she said.

"I see," Molly replied, feeling at a loss for words. She'd guessed as much, but hearing it said out loud was a different matter. "Did you want that to be temporary, or more permanent?" she asked, the question itself bringing her pain.

The three girls exchanged a look, and Julie was the one to answer. "Permanent," she replied matter-of-factly.

All the weight in Molly's stomach dropped out at this admission and she suddenly felt completely painfully empty.

"May I ask why?" she said, wondering why she was putting herself through this instead of high-tailing it back to the Gryffindor common room.

"Well – " Julie hesitated for a moment before answering. "You've been kind of a bad friend recently. You don't accept or support that we all play Quidditch now, you make us feel bad for having different priorities than you do, and we're tired of it."

"Right," Molly said, clenching her jaw to keep from screaming in the middle of the library.

Bad friend? Molly had spent every minute since the Hogsmeade trip trying to be a good friend! She'd avoided to many conflicts by not saying the things she wanted to say about Quidditch and all the practices her friends attended. She'd stayed quiet, let her friends be… and now she realized that she'd effectively pushed them away with her silence.

"I'll be leaving now," Molly managed to say right before she turned and walked as dignified as possible out of the library.

As soon as she was out of sight, Molly broke into a run, going straight for the nearest bathroom. Even before she got there, tears were streaming down her face, and once she arrived, she locked herself in a stall, sat herself down on the toilet seat and let herself just cry.

MmMmMmMmMmM

The next few days were harder than Molly would have cared to admit. Seeing her friends – ex-friends now – around the castle was painful, especially knowing they wanted nothing to do with her. And worse than that even, Molly suddenly found herself completely alone. Solitude had never bothered Molly before, but now suddenly she felt the absence of her companions like a giant hole in her life.

To avoid them, Molly found herself changing some of her patterns. She ate at different times than she used to, and usually sat with one of her cousins and their friends to give the illusion she wasn't completely alone. She started studying in the common room, where at least she wouldn't run into Julie or Debbie, and run-ins with Sarah were rare. She retired to bed early, pulling the curtains of her four-poster bed closed before Sarah returned, and staying ensconced inside her personal fortress until Sarah had left for the day.

Mercifully, it was soon time for the Christmas holidays and Molly was all too eager to get home. At least at home, she wouldn't be constantly reminded of her friends that didn't want anything to do with her. At least at home, she was the one ostracizing her family in favor of studying rather than being the ostracized.

The train ride home was rather lonesome. Molly distracted herself with some reading for her various classes, being all caught up with the homework already. When they arrived at King's Cross, Molly let Lucy tell her parents all about her first term at Hogwarts, her friends, and the newspaper club she'd joined while she herself remained quiet, retreating to her room as soon as they got home.

For the next few days, Molly spent most of her time holed up in her room. She wanted to be sure to have all of first term fully revised by the time she returned to Hogwarts. There could be no excuse for mistaking a common poison for it's antidote or vice versa.

When Christmas Eve came, Molly pleaded with her father to let her bring some of her homework to the Burrow with her so that she wouldn't be forced to play hide-and-seek with all her cousins. She just wasn't in the mood for that kind of nonsense this year. Percy agreed, though Audrey wasn't altogether impressed with Molly's antisocial attitude. Either way, Molly was happy to squirrel herself away in her Grandfather's very small study and practice some runic translations while the rest of her family celebrated.

Christmas Day, Molly was rather subdued as well, participating in the morning present-opening rituals with her family good-naturedly before returning to her room once again to revise her herbology notes.

Unexpectedly, there was suddenly a knock on her door, and Molly turned to find her mother waiting to be invited in.

"Did you want something?" Molly asked, drawing her focus away from her work.

Audrey entered and sat down on Molly's bed.

"Is everything alright Molly?" Audrey asked. "You seem a little – sad these days."

"I'm fine," Molly replied hardly. "Is that all?"

"It's just – you're usually so happy when you study," Audrey said. "You always have this little smile on your face and sometimes you even hum to yourself. But recently – you've been very quiet and your expression has been very stern and you seem unhappy."

"There's just a lot to learn," Molly lied about the reason for her attitude change. "I'm focusing, that's all."

"Are you sure there isn't something else?" Audrey wondered.

Molly shook her head. There was no point opening up to her mother. She wouldn't understand. Friendship meant something different to Molly than it did to people like Audrey and Lucy. Her mother would likely tell her to try to mend the broken friendships – find a way to make amends. But Molly knew that that wasn't possible. Her mother would likely tell her to find new friends. But Molly knew that there was nobody else in her year as invested in academics as she was. Molly already knew what her mother might say, and she knew that nothing her mother could say would help in the least.

With a sigh, Audrey stood, patting Molly on the back comfortingly before taking her leave and closing the door behind her, leaving Molly alone with her thoughts.

Molly tried to return her attention to her herbology notes, but found that it was more difficult than she could have expected. Her mother's visit had disturbed her, and now she found herself thinking of Debbie and Julie and Sarah again, and the pangs of loneliness she'd been fighting had returned.

It was ridiculous, Molly knew. She should be able to control herself – to push away bad feelings in favor of better ones – studious ones. But she couldn't.

With a groan of exasperation, Molly decided to go to the one person who might be able to understand her situation – the one person who might be able to help: her father. She got up and headed downstairs to her father's study, where she surely enough found him working on something or other despite the fact that it was Christmas Day.

"Molly," he said in surprise when she appeared in his doorway.

"Am I disturbing you?" Molly wondered nervously, thinking maybe she should come back later.

"Not at all," Percy shook his head. "I can work on this later." He put down the parchment he'd been holding and leaned back in his seat while Molly entered the room and took a seat across the desk. "Is everything alright?"

Molly waited a beat, knowing that once she admitted it, there was no going back. Then slowly she shook her head 'no'.

"Is it school?" Percy asked immediately. "Is it something with your grades? Because it's only the first term, so you have time to pull them up if you need to."

"It's not my grades," Molly shook her head. "It's my friends."

"Your friends?" Percy asked curiously. "What about them?"

"It's silly," Molly shook her head. "You know what? Never mind. I'll just go back to my room."

Molly stood and started heading to the door, but Percy stood and blocked her path.

"Why don't you let me be the judge of what's silly and what isn't?" Percy suggested. "Tell me what's wrong."

Molly sighed and reclaimed her seat. Then she explained how her friends had decided they no longer wanted to be friends with her, and how it basically all amounted to them wanting to play Quidditch.

"I see," Percy said once Molly was done explaining. He sat back in his chair, thinking, leaving Molly feeling unsettled and nervous for her father's reply. "Well it's clear to me that these people were never a good choice of friends to begin with," he declared.

"What?" Molly asked, not expecting this answer at all.

"Well you said it yourself," Percy said. "They prioritize Quidditch over schoolwork. You need to be surrounded by people who are prioritizing schoolwork. Those are the people that are going to challenge you, who are going to push you to be your best."

"They used to do that," Molly found herself defending them.

"But they don't anymore," Percy nodded. "So you should cut them loose. Don't give them another thought. Don't you remember why you made friends in the first place?"

Molly thought back to her first year, when her only intention had been to do well in school no matter the cost.

"We were just a study group at first," Molly remembered. "Four people brought together by a love of school."

"Exactly!" Percy nodded. "Somewhere along the line, the lines between study partners and friends must have become blurred, but you and I both know that friendship is a dangerous thing. Friends have responsibilities to one another than simple study partners don't have. You can't be weighted down by those responsibilities if you're going to be top of the class.

"You're right," Molly nodded, realizing that she'd been thinking about this all wrong. She'd been focusing on the fact that he friends had ditched her, when really she should have ditched her friends the minute they made their respective Quidditch teams. As soon as they stopped being assets for her academic career and had started dragging her down, she should have cut them loose.

"Of course I am," Percy nodded. "All this friendship drama has been distracting you from the one thing that's really important."

"My grades," Molly nodded. "But I'm already top of the class. Now that Sarah and Debbie and Julie are distracted with Quidditch, their grades have dropped and I've become top of everything. I need a challenge – someone to challenge me. But there's nobody."

"Who says you need to be challenged by current students?" Percy asked.

Molly frowned at this. "What do you mean?" she wondered.

"Go to the trophy room when you get back to school," Percy instructed. "There should be a list kept there of the students that have had top marks in each class for all the years that Hogwarts has been around. Make them your challenge. Make it your goal to beat _them_."

"Yeah," Molly nodded, liking the idea of that. It wasn't enough to be top of her year. Molly needed to make it her mission to be top of _all_ students that had ever been in her year. "I'll do that."

"Good," Percy nodded, satisfied that he'd given good advice. "Then I'd advise that you get back upstairs and get to work revising. You're not going to beat me or your Aunt Hermione by sitting around all day."

"Yes Sir," Molly smiled, standing up and immediately heading to the door. "And Dad?" she asked, pausing in the doorway and turning around. "Thanks."

Percy smiled warmly. "Anytime sweetheart," he said. "Anytime."


	25. January Year 3

_Year 3: Left Behind_

Chapter 25: January 2017

School. Studying. Straight O's. Molly repeated her new mantra in her head over and over again as she boarded the train and prepared to head back to school.

School. Studying. Straight O's. These were the three sacred S's that would guide Molly's thoughts, words, and actions for the rest of her days at Hogwarts.

School. Studying. Straight O's. As long as she focused on that, there was no need to think about anything else. There would be nothing to distract her from her goal, nothing to keep her from being the top student at Hogwarts _ever._

As Molly walked along the train corridor in search of an empty compartment, she didn't even think twice when she saw Julie, Debbie, and Sarah all crammed into a compartment together with their textbooks. She didn't even spare them a second glance, because they meant nothing to her now. They were distractions. She was focused. Her eyes were on the prize and nothing was going to slow her down.

The entire ride to school, Molly read. She absorbed everything there was to absorb from her transfiguration textbook, then her arithmancy textbook, and then her history of magic textbook. She'd already read them of course, but you don't become the top student ever by only reading your textbooks three times each. You read them until you know them inside and out, backwards and forwards, upside down and upside right.

When they arrived at school, Molly went to the welcome back feast just to grab a bite to eat, and then she skipped out before dessert so that she could go through her herbology textbook again before bed.

When Sarah and the rest of her roommates returned from the feast, Molly didn't acknowledge them. It wasn't that she was being rude; she just didn't realize they were there until she'd finished her reading and put down her book. At that point, she just shut the curtains of her bed and went to sleep. A good night's rest was crucial. She'd need to be alert and on point in all her classes from now on.

This was it. This was the big times. Everything up until now had been training. Now it was time for her shining moment. No longer was she competing with the dullards in Slytherin. No longer was she competing with airheads like Flora Bailey. No longer was she competing with average Ravenclaws or mediocre Hufflepuffs. No longer was she competing with students with split focus like Sarah and Julie and Debbie. Now she was competing with the best of the best, the cream of the crop. She was competing with like-minded individuals through time. Molly was already the top student of her year. Which meant that now, she was competing with the top students from every other year for all of Hogwarts' history.

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First class back was transfiguration and Molly was fierce as she walked into class and plopped herself down front and center. From the minute Professor Tonks asked the first question, Molly was answering them all rapid fire. She wasn't even raising her hand, she was just calling out answers unprompted. After all, you don't become the top of the class by being passive and waiting to be called on. You have to take initiative. You have to seize your moment, show off your knowledge whenever possible, and never let anyone else have a chance to look smarter than you.

Molly suspected that Professor Tonks was getting annoyed with her, but she didn't care. Being the best isn't about other people's feelings. In fact, it isn't about feelings at all. It's about knowledge and determination. It's about not caring what anyone else thinks, and doing what you need to do to succeed.

Molly continued this pattern in the rest of her classes that day and through until the end of the week. When she wasn't in class, she was in the library, or the common room, or sometimes if Flora and the others weren't there, she'd even study in the dorm. At mealtimes, she'd swing by the Great Hall and grab something, usually to go. There was no point sitting down for any extended period of time just to eat when she could be more productive studying.

School. Studying. Straight O's. From her first day back, Molly was dedicated to her cause. Every waking moment was a productive moment. If she was walking from one class to another, she was revising her vocabulary words for ancient runes in her head. If she was getting dressed in the morning, she was listing off the ingredients needed for some potion or other. If her professor was lingering on a subject she'd already mastered, she was reading ahead. Not a spare moment went to waste.

By the time Saturday rolled around, Molly was so far ahead of her classmates, her assignments, and everything, that she knew she needed a challenge. Just because she was so advanced didn't mean she could slack. She had to go above and beyond, take every opportunity to better herself, keep on striving for top marks.

So as soon as she'd had a bite of breakfast, Molly started going through the castle, office to office, in search of a professor at work. Professor Longbottom's office was empty, as was Professor Tonks' office. Molly headed to the dungeons next, and to her delight, Professor Abbott-Longbottom was seated at her desk, grading papers.

"Good morning, Professor," Molly greeted the potions professor.

"Good morning Molly," Professor Abbott-Longbottom replied. "Can I help you with anything?"

"I was actually looking to see if there was any extra coursework you could assign me?" Molly inquired. "Maybe on a topic we aren't covering as in depth as we could? Something the curriculum skims over? Something I could get extra credit for?"

Professor Abbott-Longbottom frowned. "Extra credit?" she questioned. "Why would you need extra credit? You're top of the class, and pulling a straight O average."

"That's no excuse to stop trying," Molly said. "I need to strive to be the absolute best I can, and since I've already finished all my regular assignments, I thought I'd try and get some new ones assigned."

"Have you considered using your free time to spend time with your friends? Get some fresh air? Do something besides schoolwork?" Professor Abbott-Longbottom asked.

"I'm not going to waste my time," Molly shook her head. "If I slack off, even for a second, then I've let myself down."

"Taking time to have a well-rounded like isn't letting yourself down. In fact, not taking time to have a well-rounded life would be the letdown. It's not healthy and you'll certainly come to regret it one day."

Molly didn't want to hear what Professor Abbott-Longbottom had to say. When she realized she wasn't going to get what she wanted from the professor, she made her excuses and escaped. As she began searching for another professor, she started rethinking her approach. Given her straight O's, her professors were unlikely to want to give her extra assignments. It would mean extra work for them in grading, and clearly that wasn't an attractive option. But Molly had other ideas.

When she found Professor Thicket in his office, she silently rejoiced. She had so many questions about ancient runes, and he could answer them!

"Professor Thicket?" Molly said, knocking lightly on the door.

"What can I do for you Molly?" Professor Thicket wondered.

"If you have some spare time, I had some questions I wanted to ask you," Molly revealed.

"Of course," Professor Thicket nodded, gesturing to the free chair in front of his desk.

Molly entered the room and sat down, rummaging quickly through her bag until she found her ancient runes notes. She'd brought her notes for all her courses with her today.

"Alright, my first question is about the passive voice," Molly declared. "How does that work in runes?"

"That's no simple question," Professor Thicket frowned. "To answer you, I'd have to teach you an entire verb tense you haven't learned yet."

"I've read ahead," Molly said confidently. "If it's any of the ones in the textbook, then I'd already know it."

Professor Thicket shook his head. "I don't teach this tense until fourth year," he informed Molly.

Molly smiled. This was going to be an even more interesting morning than she'd anticipated. "Alright," she said, grabbing a quill and moving to the end of her notes. She scratched in the date and the topic and then looked up at Professor Thicket expectantly. "Go ahead and teach me."

Molly spent the better part of the morning in Professor Thicket's office learning about the passive voice and its associated verb tense: the passive tense. It was a tense that didn't exist in English, which made it all the more challenging.

When lunchtime came around, Professor Thicket apologized, but told Molly they had to wrap up as he needed to eat and then had a meeting with Professor Slinkhard that afternoon. Molly didn't mind though. She'd had an extraordinarily productive morning and looked forward to an equally productive afternoon.

After grabbing a quick bite to eat, Molly found her way to Professor Flitwick's office, where she inquired about non-verbal magic. It was supposed to be an extremely advanced topic only taught at N.E.W.T. level, but Molly couldn't see any reason why she couldn't learn it now. Plus, as she understood, only certain classes taught it in sixth year, and if Molly happened to choose to discontinue those courses (not that she intended to drop any courses come sixth year), it would be useful to learn now.

Professor Flitwick was hesitant at first, but when Molly insisted, she consented to cover the basics at least. Molly was ecstatic, and even after Professor Flitwick kicked Molly out of her office later that afternoon, Molly now had something completely new to practice and to learn.

Over the course of the next few weeks, Molly continued to drop in on her Professors with questions about topics they hadn't covered yet, topics they hadn't gone as in depth as they might have with, and topics she didn't think they would ever cover. All the while, she worked on her non-verbal spellcasting until it was completely perfected. It only took about two and a half weeks.

Meanwhile, Molly got the feeling her professors were getting irritated with her. She couldn't understand why. They were professors. They were here to teach. But after the first couple of weeks, whenever she would drop into her professors' offices unannounced, she could sense a distinct sense of displeasure coming off of them. Their energy would drop, their expression would turn to a slight frown, and their voice would become hard. But Molly didn't care. This wasn't about being friends with her professors, it was about being the best. And as long as they were answering her questions, they were fulfilling their purpose.

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The following Sunday afternoon found Molly in the after-hours potions lab, working on a potion they weren't scheduled to learn until April. She'd had to owl-order a few ingredients that she didn't have, and borrow some others from the potions professor's stores – they were public stores after all, so it wasn't like she was stealing. It was a potion she'd suspected she would have trouble with when the time finally came to brew it in class, and Molly thought she'd get a head start on it now, have a test brew, and that way when they did brew it for real, she'd know what she was doing.

Without making any noise, Professor Abbott-Longbottom entered the room and stood at the back, watching Molly manically brew her potion. There was nobody else in the room. No other student wanted to spend their Sunday afternoon brewing potions, especially since it was one of the warmer days they'd had that winter, and most were outside enjoying the sun.

It wasn't until Molly turned around to grab some rat spleens that she realized she was no longer alone.

"Professor!" she exclaimed in surprise. "I didn't realize you were here!"

"I didn't announce myself," Professor Abbott-Longbottom said. It wasn't an apology, more of an explanation.

Molly nodded. "Well since I have you here, I actually had a couple of questions," she said eagerly. In the process of brewing the potion, she'd discovered so many questions she'd never thought of before.

"I'm not going to answer your questions," Professor Abbott-Longbottom shook her head.

Molly frowned. "But why?" she asked, confused. It made no sense. Professor Abbott-Longbottom was a teacher. Answering questions was what she did.

"Molly, we're worried about you," the potions professor said gently, stepping closer to Molly.

"We?" Molly asked, still confused. What was going on?

"We the professors," Professor Abbott-Longbottom replied. "Myself, Professor Longbottom, Professor Flitwick, Professor Tonks… all of us."

"Why would you be worried?" Molly asked. "I'm fine."

"You're clearly not fine," Professor Abbott-Longbottom shook her head. "You haven't interacted with any of your peers since term restarted, you've been much too focused on schoolwork, and you've developed an unhealthy obsession with learning topics beyond your current level."

"I don't understand," Molly said, totally lost. "This is school. Aren't I meant to learn? Isn't that the whole point of being here?"

"Yes, but we teach certain subjects at certain times for a reason," Professor Abbott-Longbottom replied. "We've paced out your coursework in such a way for a reason. If you get too far ahead of yourself, what will be left to learn in sixth and seventh year?"

"There's always more to learn," Molly disagreed. "Aren't you supposed to be a teacher?" This made no sense. Why would her teacher dissuade her from learning?

"I think I've gotten off track," Professor Abbott-Longbottom frowned. "It's not that I don't think learning is important, but it's not the _only_ important thing."

"I disagree," Molly contradicted. "School. Studying. Straight O's. That's all that matters."

"But what about friends? Socializing? Being a kid?" Professor Abbott-Longbottom insisted. "Don't you miss recreational time?"

"Recreation is for people who aren't serious about their studies," Molly replied. She thought of Debbie and Sarah and Julie. As soon as they'd become interested in recreation, Quidditch specifically, their grades had begun to steadily drop.

"That's not true. I've had many straight O students who participated in various clubs and teams. You could join something! Perhaps the arithmancy club?" Professor Abbott-Longbottom suggested.

"I doubt they'd be able to challenge me," Molly shook her head. "Plus, I wouldn't want to focus too much of my attention on one subject and forgo the rest. It would be uneven."

"What about the wizard's chess club?" Professor Abbott-Longbottom suggested a second option.

"What would I get out of that?" Molly asked, confused again. Her professor was making no sense today.

"Interaction with other students, something to think about besides your coursework, not to mention chess is incredibly useful in developing skills in both logic and planning. It could stretch your brain in ways reading more books simply couldn't."

Molly wasn't convinced. "Nobody at this school could be close enough to a challenge for me to even consider it," she replied. "It would be me teaching them, and I don't have time for charity."

Professor Abbott-Longbottom sighed. "I don't know what you want from me, Molly," she said.

"I want you to answer my questions about this potion, and then leave me alone to finish brewing. Then I want to go to the library and check out a book on advanced transfigurations and read it until I have to go to sleep."

"But you need to have more in your life than just your studies, or you won't become a well-rounded person," Professor Abbott-Longbottom insisted.

"Are you saying if I don't join a club I'll be expelled?" Molly asked.

Professor Abbott-Longbottom hesitated. "Well no, I can't do that," she admitted.

"Will you give me detention?" Molly asked.

Professor Abbott-Longbottom shook her head. "No, you won't get in any kind of trouble," she replied. "I would just really like you to consider it."

Molly nodded, though she had no intention of considering anything. "You're not going to answer any questions for me today, are you?" she asked.

"Not unless they have to do with the subject we are currently studying, or a subject we have already covered in class," Professor Abbott-Longbottom replied. "I don't want to encourage this unhealthy behavior."

"If you don't mind, I'd like to finish brewing this potion alone," Molly declared. "I'll check out a book on the subject later and find my answers that way."

It was probably a better plan anyway. She would get more information from the book. Information she wouldn't even think to ask her teacher.

Professor Abbott-Longbottom looked sad, but obliged, leaving Molly alone.

She just didn't understand. Molly knew what she was doing. Her father had encouraged her in her new mission, and she wasn't going to let anything stop her from being the best. Not even her professors. She realized now that they were distractions too. She could only rely on herself. The library would be her new best friend. She would read as many books on as many topics as she possibly could. If she finished the books in the library, she would buy more, or convince her father to buy more. There would never be a lack of things to learn, and Molly intended to learn everything she possibly could.


	26. February Year 3

_Year 3: Left Behind_

Chapter 26: February 2017

By the time February rolled around, Molly's three scared S's were starting to feel less like her calling and more like her prison. As fun as it was constantly learning new things, Molly's life was starting to get redundant. In the library, she watched as other students studied together, shared each other's notes, asked each other questions when they didn't know the answer. In the common room, she listened to friends share stories, spread gossip, and play games. In the dorm, she looked on jealously as Flora, Amber, and Eliza would sit huddled together on Flora's bed and she would glance a little longingly at Sarah's usually empty one before pulling the curtains and ensconcing herself in her own private reading sanctuary.

It wasn't that Molly didn't enjoy all the extra studying and reading she was doing. She just missed having people to share it with. Whenever she came across a really interesting new fact, she'd look up, ready to share it, only to realize there was nobody there. When she memorized all the runes from the list of abstract nouns she'd pulled from her runic dictionary, there was nobody to celebrate with.

Though it was completely foolish and illogical, Molly missed the company of her friends. She missed Debbie and she missed Julie and she missed Sarah.

When Molly first realized it, she thought about approaching them sometime, seeing if they'd be interested in re-establishing their previous arrangement. But then Molly realized that this would never work. They had been the ones to stop being friends with her in the first place. And with the three of them playing Quidditch now, they were less than ideal candidates.

Molly didn't dwell on them for too long though. They weren't the only people she had connections with at Hogwarts. She had tons of family here that she could spend time with. In fact, two of her cousins were older than her, which could work out in her benefit. They could teach her things she hadn't learned in class yet. Fourth year and sixth year material.

With a new plan in place, Molly sought out the first relative she could find. She headed up to the common room, and upon crawling through the portrait hole, discovered that her older cousin Dominique was sitting at one of the tables with her friend Brooke, and both were doing their homework. Perfect.

"Hey Domi," Molly greeted her cousin as she took a seat across from her. "Hey Brooke."

"It's Molly, right?" Brooke asked.

Molly nodded. She didn't mind that Brooke was unsure. They'd only met a handful of times, since up until now, Molly hadn't really had much need to spend any time with her fourth year cousin.

"So what are you guys working on?" she asked, interestedly. She hoped it was transfiguration. She was in a transfiguration-y mood. Kind of like how people sometimes craved salty food, or chocolate. Molly was craving some transfiguration equations.

"We're making a list of ways that we can sneak up on Summer Snow," Brooke replied. "We're going to turn her hair green, but we have to catch her off guard. Ideally we'd do it while she was asleep, but we'd never manage to get into the Slytherin dorms."

"I wouldn't want to get into the Slytherin dorms," Dominique interjected. "Can you imagine how creepy it would be down there? Not to mention all those Slytherins in one place."

"Not all Slytherins are bad, you know," Molly pointed out, extremely disappointed that her cousin and her friend weren't doing homework after all.

"Yeah, but a lot of them are," Dominique retorted. "I'm not saying there aren't bad Gryffindors either. There are good and bad people in every house. But the ones down in Slytherin have a very specific hatred of us in Gryffindor, which would make being caught in their dorm that much more unpleasant."

Molly didn't argue the subject. It wasn't important anyway.

"Don't you two have homework you need to be doing?" Molly asked, hoping to prompt a study session amongst the three of them.

"Probably," Brooke shrugged. "But it can wait. It's not like we have anything due tomorrow."

"Ooh, except for that transfiguration assignment," Dominique pointed out.

Molly sat up straighter when she heard that. Transfiguration was exactly what she had been itching for.

"Yeah, but it's only five questions," Brooke waved Dominique off. "We can copy off Miles in first period. Professor Tonks will never know."

"You can't copy other people's homework!" Molly exclaimed. "That's cheating!"

"I'm sorry Molly, did you actually need something?" Dominique asked, rounding on Molly. She looked irritated, and Molly shrunk back a little.

"No, I was just hoping we could spend some time together. Maybe do some homework. That's all," Molly replied.

"Well Brooke and I are actually quite busy working on our Summer problem," Dominique said. "So unless you have any ideas that could be useful, why don't you just go study with your Ravenclaw friends?"

"Right," Molly nodded, getting the message. Obviously, she was unwanted, and she had no desire to overstay her welcome. "I'll leave you to it. I had some reading to do anyway."

Hurt and a little humiliated, Molly headed up to her dorm and closed herself inside the curtains of her four-poster bed. She wasn't in the mood to be around anyone else, not while she felt like this. She thought about doing some transfiguration reading, but she only had her third-year textbook, which she'd basically memorized cover to cover. She'd have to go down to the library to find any new and interesting material, and that was a journey she just wasn't up for. She would go tomorrow, when she was more up to it.

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The next day, Molly rallied and pushed thoughts of Dominique and Brooke from her mind. Just because they didn't want to study with her didn't mean her plan had been a disaster. She had other relatives. Dominique just wasn't the right choice.

Molly decided that her next attempt would be with her oldest cousin, Victoire. Victoire was a sixth-year, and would have homework much more on track with the level Molly had recently achieved anyway. After all, Molly was now almost exclusively performing her spells non-verbally, which was a sixth-year thing. Molly wasn't sure why she didn't just start with Victoire. Dominique was only a year ahead of her. What possible knowledge could she have shared with Molly?

It took some effort to locate Victoire. When Molly went looking for her eldest cousin after last period, she couldn't find her anywhere. She wasn't in the common room or the library, or even the sixth-year lounge. It wasn't until Molly stopped by the Great Hall for a bite of dinner that she caught sight of her cousin further up the table.

Taking the opportunity while she could, Molly joined Victoire and her sixth year friends, taking a seat on Victoire's left.

"Hey Victoire," Molly greeted her. "How's it going?"

"Hello," Victoire replied, something about her voice sounding very off.

"Everything alright?" Molly asked, sensing that there was something different about her cousin today.

"Don't expect much out of her," one of Victoire's friends – was her name Carla? – leaned over Victoire to say. "She's been having a rough time of it. Hasn't been saying all that much lately."

"Why not?" Molly frowned. Had something happened that she didn't know about?

The one who's name might have been Carla went to answer, but then the other – Molly was pretty sure she was named Brianna – cut her off. The two began communicating with a series of words that meant very little to Molly, but Molly got the distinct impression that there was something they weren't telling her – something Victoire hadn't wanted Molly to know about.

While the two girls argued, Molly tried to get her cousin's attention again.

"So Victoire, I thought I might study with you and your friends later," Molly said. "Assuming you guys have homework to do, that is. Recently I've been working on some N.E.W.T. level stuff, just extracurricularly, and thought it would be nice to study with some real N.E.W.T. students."

"That sounds nice," Victoire muttered, not taking her eyes off her plate.

It was like Victoire wasn't even hearing what Molly was saying. Her eyes were glassy and unfocused, her voice monotone and almost dead-sounding.

"Hey! Victoire!" Molly tried snapping her fingers in her cousin's face, nudging her in the shoulder, even shouting in her ear, but nothing seemed to get Victoire's attention.

"Like I said," Carla said, apparently done arguing with Brianna. "Don't expect to get much of a response out of her."

"Or any response, really," Brianna added, a little bitterly.

"But what's wrong with her?" Molly asked, still not understanding what was going on.

"Don't worry about it, kid," Brianna replied. "She'll come out of it in her own time. We're keeping an eye on her. If it gets serious, we'll let someone know."

"Alright," Molly said, realizing that they weren't going to tell her what was going on. And if she was being perfectly honest, Molly didn't really care. Whatever it was, Victoire would be fine.

She'd gleaned a small bit of information from the two girl's 'coded' discussion, and she'd surmised that Victoire had gone through a rather painful experience and was just working her way through it. This was some kind of strange healing process.

Molly didn't have time to help Victoire to heal. Her friends could do that. Molly needed to find someone to study with, and in her current state, Victoire would clearly be no help whatsoever. So Molly moved on.

She headed up to the common room, expecting to just head back to her dorm and do some reading, and then try again with a new relative the next day, but when she entered the common room, she noticed her cousin Louis with his friend Justin and thought she might as well give them a shot.

"Hey Louis," Molly greeted her cousin, taking a seat with the two boys. They had books spread out on the table before them and pieces of parchment strewn everywhere. They had to be doing homework. "Hey Justin. What're you guys up to?"

"We're actually working on this thing for astronomy club," Louis revealed. "Take a look, it's really cool."

Molly shifted in her chair to better see what the boys were working on and found that it was actually quite interesting. She hadn't done as much extra reading into astronomy, and the two boys were clearly working on a project far beyond the scope of second, or even third year material. For a while, Molly let the boys teach her a bit about the stars they were studying, enjoying the fact that they were so passionate about the subject. This was what she'd been missing since she'd stopped being friends with Debbie, Sarah, and Julie: the back and forth, the enjoyment that comes with the sharing of knowledge.

Once Louis and Justin had explained all about the stars and such, Molly tried to reciprocate by telling them about this really interesting article she'd found in a magazine about innovative herbology practices. It had been really fascinating, and she'd been considering trying some of them out when they got assigned their next long-term herbology project. But neither Louis nor Justin seemed at all interested, and instead seemed to just want to get back to their astronomy work.

Molly sighed, realizing that Louis was a lost cause too. Though he'd been her best candidate so far, she couldn't spend the rest of her time at Hogwarts only talking about astronomy. She needed someone who was interested in more than one thing. Because astronomy would get boring fast. In fact, it already was starting to. One thing Molly had always had to do when studying was constantly rotate the subject she was working on. She couldn't spend too long on any particular subject, or she would get bored. She had to keep changing things up to keep herself interested. Louis and Justin had one focus and one focus only. And Molly couldn't be that single-minded.

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The next day, Molly sought out her sister. None of her cousins had worked out so far, but Molly wondered if Lucy wouldn't make a better choice. They shared significantly more DNA with each other than with any of her cousins, and now that Lucy was at school, she seemed to be becoming more mature.

Molly found Lucy in the library with a couple of other first years that were introduced to her as Tina and Ashley. Molly sat with the three for a full five minutes before getting up and leaving outright. Unfortunately, Lucy appeared to be still the same immature child she'd been before coming to Hogwarts. And for another thing, the girls were all struggling to understand the technical differences in the casting of _locomotor mortis_ and _locomotor wibbly_ , which was so simple Molly couldn't bear to listen to their questions.

Molly had one cousin left she could try connecting with – James. She was doubtful, but figured she'd at least seek him out. She found him in the common room with one of his fellow first years, and when she saw them lounging on one of the sofas stuffing their faces full of chocolate frogs and licorice wands, she just turned around and walked back out. There was no way James would make a better study companion than any of her previously attempted study companions, and Molly was still a little exhausted from being around Lucy and her nonsense for a whole five minutes.

With all her relative options exhausted, Molly found herself sitting down on a bench next to a window in the seventh-floor corridor. She couldn't be out of options, she just had to figure out where to look next. Her problem with James and Lucy was that they were too young. So Molly automatically ruled out all first years, and by extension, anyone who was younger than her. And Molly already knew everyone in her own year, and knew they were terrible options, so she ruled them out too.

The idea of befriending an older student had promise, but Molly couldn't think of any older student who would willingly befriend a random third year girl, besides her cousins, who were already out. So she ruled out the older students as options as well.

That pretty much ruled out everyone in the building except for teachers.

And then Molly had a thought.

The school was full of professors, all of whom were much smarter and probably more interesting than any of the students here. They were who Molly needed to befriend. Once she befriended them, she could have intelligent conversations with people who actually had intelligent things to say. It was the perfect plan.

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Molly started with Professor Longbottom, because she'd known him – just barely – before starting at Hogwarts, and he had a connection with her family. After class the following day, she sought him out in his classroom and found him watering plants in greenhouse five.

"Hello Professor Longbottom," Molly greeted him, entering the greenhouse and immediately putting on protective gloves, as the sign on the door instructed. "How are you today?"

"I'm well Molly," Professor Longbottom replied politely. "And yourself?"

"Quite well," Molly nodded. She grabbed a nearby watering can. "Can I help you water these plants?" she offered.

Professor Longbottom agreed and Molly went to fill up her can with water.

"Just watch out," he warned as she approached the first bunch of plants. "They're carnivorous, so don't get too close to them."

"Noted," Molly nodded, keeping her distance as she began to pour the water. "So I was reading this article about innovative herbology practices," she said, broaching the subject she'd tried to interest Louis and his friend with the other day.

"Was it the one in _Herbology Today_?" Professor Longbottom inquired excitedly.

"Yes," Molly confirmed. "Have you read it?"

"I have in fact," Professor Longbottom replied. "In fact, I was thinking of implementing some of them in future assignments."

"I was thinking the same thing!" Molly exclaimed, pleased to be finally having an intelligent conversation with a fellow human.

The two carried on for a good half hour, by which time they'd finished watering all the plants in the greenhouse, and Professor Longbottom started packing up for the day.

"Well, it was nice to have your help, Molly," the herbology professor said. "But I'm afraid I have to grade some papers now."

"Of course," Molly nodded. He had a job to do after all. He wasn't here just to be her friend.

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The following day, Molly tried the same practice out on Professor Longbottom's wife. Molly found the potions professor down in the storerooms, taking potions ingredients out of a couple of large boxes and putting them on shelves.

"What are you up to?" Molly asked.

"Just restocking the shelves in here," Professor Abbott-Longbottom replied. "Got to keep up our potions stores. Can't be running out of valerian root or unicorn horns."

"Would you like some help?" Molly offered. Offering to help with a task had gotten her in the door with Professor Longbottom the day before, and she hoped it would do the same now.

"Sure," Professor Abbott-Longbottom agreed, gesturing for Molly to unload the boxes while she put the ingredients on the shelves. "I have to say, I'm glad to see you taking a break from all the studying," the professor added.

Molly nodded. "It was getting kind of tiresome, never having any real conversations," Molly admitted.

"I hope that means you've found some new friends," Professor Abbott-Longbottom said.

"I think I'm in the process," Molly replied. Really, it all depended how this interaction, and the ones she had yet to have with her other professors, went.

"That's really good," Professor Abbott-Longbottom smiled. "I'm proud of you, Molly."

Molly smiled. The praise felt nice. "Have you read the latest issue of _Perfect Potions_?" she asked, naming a scholarly potions magazine.

"I read some of it," Professor Abbott-Longbottom replied. "But I haven't finished yet."

"There's this great article near the end," Molly replied, hoping her teacher hadn't read it yet so that she could tell her all about it. "It's about the relationship between cauldron thickness and the type of material it's made out of. Really interesting stuff."

"No, I haven't actually gotten to that one yet," Professor Abbott-Longbottom admitted.

Molly launched into an explanation of the author's hypothesis, study, and conclusions. By the time the two had finished restocking the potions cupboard, they were knee-deep in a discussion about the benefits of thick pewter cauldrons versus thin brass ones.

"Well, I'm sorry to have to end this, but I'm afraid I've got some lesson plans to finish," Professor Abbott-Longbottom said, vanishing the empty boxes. "And I'm sure you're anxious to get back to your new friends. I'll see you in class tomorrow."

"Right," Molly nodded, deflating just a bit. "See you tomorrow."

As Molly headed back upstairs, she crossed the Entrance Hall just as Julie and Debbie came in from outside, clearly returning from Quidditch practice. There was an awkward moment where none of them said anything, and then the Ravenclaws headed for the Grand Staircase and Molly ducked into the Great Hall until they got far enough away that it wouldn't be uncomfortable walking all the way up to the seventh floor.

When Molly returned to the Entrance Hall and then started to climb the stairs, she found herself feeling sad. Being friends with her professors was all well and good, but she really did miss having friends her own age. Friends who weren't on the job and having to cut their conversations short to go back to work. Friends who were as invested in the relationship as Molly was. Molly hated to admit it, but not even her professors would replace what she'd lost.


	27. March Year 3

_Year 3: Left Behind_

Chapter 27: March 2017

"… and then at the end of the study, they found that the mice that consumed antidote A survived, while the mice that consumed antidote B and C all died, proving that antidote A, which was the one with the crushed snake fangs, was the only one that worked."

Molly was down in the dungeons with Professor Abbott-Longbottom again, helping the teacher to clean up in the after-hours potions lab, which students had a habit of leaving dirty, despite the sign on the wall saying that they needed to clean up with each other. While they worked, Molly had been telling her professor all about a study she'd read about where a potions researcher in Sweden had been experimenting with alternative antidotes to various poisons.

"Personally, I'm not sure how I feel about animal experimentation, but I do find the study fascinating," Molly continued. "On the one hand, they're killing mice, which is cruel. But on the other hand, they're advancing the study of potions and antidotes, which is important work and can save lives. What do you think, Professor?" Molly asked. "Do you support animal experimentation?"

Professor Abbott-Longbottom shook her head. "I certainly don't support this study," she replied. "Not when a perfectly functioning antidote already exists."

"But the current antidote does have some significant negative side-effects," Molly pointed out.

"None of which can't be cured through magical means and a little bit of time," Professor Abbott-Longbottom returned. "There's no need to look for a secondary antidote. It's not even as though the current antidote has any expensive or rare ingredients either, so it's not exceptionally pricey."

"But if there's another cure, a better cure out there, don't you think we owe it to ourselves to find it?" Molly asked. "Don't we owe it to ourselves to find the best antidote out there? You can't argue that the current antidote is ideal."

"No, but it's functional, which is all we really need," Professor Abbott-Longbottom replied. "And I don't support animal experimentation. If they found a way to test the antidotes without the mice, I'd be all for it."

"Well you can't very well expect them to test it on people," Molly said in shock. "That would be even worse!"

"I meant if they found a way without testing on anything living," Professor Abbott-Longbottom replied. "But this isn't really a question of potions, it's a question of ethics."

"No, it's a question of potions," Molly shook her head. "Ethics don't have to have anything to do with it."

Professor Abbott-Longbottom shook her head. "Look Molly, I'm not going to argue with you. You're entitled to your own opinions of course. All I'll say on the matter is that I personally don't agree with the methods of the Sweden study."

Molly nodded, but didn't say anything in return. She'd suddenly felt very strongly that Professor Abbott-Longbottom was a teacher and she a student. She'd heard it in her potions professor's voice in her last statement, when she'd refused to argue the point further. Had the divide not been there, Molly felt sure her professor would have continued to make her case against animal experimentation.

"Right," Molly nodded, finishing up with the washing she was doing of the various bowls and knifes that had been left dirty by careless students. "Well I'm all done here," she declared. "I might head back to Gryffindor Tower and work on my arithmancy assignment."

"Thanks for the help, as always," Professor Abbott-Longbottom smiled as Molly grabbed her bag and headed for the door.

"Always happy to help," Molly returned. Then she ducked out of the room and began her ascent to the seventh floor.

As Molly walked, she thought about her most recent interaction with Professor Abbott-Longbottom. It had been fun, discussing various potions articles that had been recently published. Molly enjoyed the back and forth, and especially the level of knowledge her teacher brought to the conversation. But almost inevitably, the conversation would always die when Molly tried to cross the line from conversation to debate.

It happened with all her teachers. For some reason, none of them wanted to have serious discussions about these topics with her. They were happy to review the finer points of the article with her, comment on certain aspects of them, and so on. But as soon as the conversation turned opinion based, they backtracked out of it as fast as possible. It was frustrating.

Molly missed when she could have a heated argument with Julie about unicorn tail feather versus dragon heartstring as a wand core, or floo versus portkey as the better form of transportation (obviously the correct answers were dragon heartstring and portkey - what did Julie know?)

Her professors always kept her at a distance. Like they didn't want to befriend one of their students. But Molly didn't think that was fair. She was much more intelligent than any of her fellow students. She should be friends with people who could keep up with her, intellectually. It only made sense. Unfortunately, the professors didn't seem to see it that way.

When Molly reached her dorm, she was surprised to find Sarah sitting on her bed, reading her herbology textbook. It was uncharacteristic, given Sarah usually studied with Julie and Debbie until just before curfew, and only returned to the dorms when it was time to go to sleep. Molly frowned, but didn't say anything, instead jumping into her own bed and pulling the curtains before Sarah could acknowledge her presence.

Molly had been doing just fine, with things the way they'd been. She rarely saw Julie and Debbie anymore at all, what with them always being at Quidditch practice and also being in Ravenclaw. Sarah, she saw more often, but the two girls had been pointedly ignoring each other, which worked for Molly. She didn't want to talk to Sarah, and Sarah didn't want to talk to her.

Molly tried to do her arithmancy assignment for a while, but eventually decided that it was impossible to complete while in bed. She needed a proper surface to work on – either a table or a desk, but certainly not a mattress. And since Sarah might still be out in the open, Molly didn't feel like emerging from behind her curtains. So instead, she put her arithmancy to the side and grabbed the newest issue of _Herbology Today_ that she'd borrowed from the library. There were still a few articles she hadn't read yet, and one of them might be interesting enough to bring up to Professor Longbottom tomorrow when she helped him with some re-potting he needed to do. He'd asked for volunteers one class, and Molly had been quick to raise her hand. She looked forward to the task, and also to the conversations she hoped to coax her professor into.

MmMmMmMmMmM

The next day, again extremely out of character, Molly awoke to find Sarah still in the dorm. Usually she was up and out quite early, but today she took her time pulling on her shoes and brushing her teeth.

In order to avoid her, Molly made a beeline for the shower and stayed in there until she heard Eliza call out a goodbye to Sarah. As she finished up and then got dressed, Molly wondered if something was wrong with Sarah. Not that she cared. They weren't friends anymore, after all. Whatever was going on with Sarah was Sarah's business, not Molly's. Sarah had made it clear she didn't want Molly involved in her life anymore. Molly was simply obliging Sarah's request.

Pushing Sarah from her mind, Molly made her way down to breakfast. She ate quickly and then headed to her first class of the day: defence. Professor Derlid had dedicated the entire month to duelling practice, where he was very specifically teaching them about using the environment around them to their advantage. So, the classroom was filled with an array of odd objects and obstacles.

When it came time to pair up, Molly partnered with Makayla Higgins from Hufflepuff, which was a terrible idea, because Makayla was miserable at duelling. Unfortunately, since Debbie and Julie had partnered each other, Amber and Eliza had paired up together, and the rest of the class chosen their teams rather quickly, it had looked like Molly's only options would be Makayla, Sarah, or Flora. So she chose Makayla and left Sarah and Flora to battle it out on the other side of the room.

By the end of the lesson, Molly was more than a little annoyed. She'd done a great job of utilizing her environment. She'd even used a projectile spell she'd learned in Charms to projectile throw a pile of sticks she'd found on the ground right at Makayla. Makayla had been so surprised, Molly had had to cast a quick _finite incantatem_ on the sticks before they punctured on of her eyes. And all she'd have had to do was duck being one of the desks and she'd have been fine.

Professor Derlid had congratulated Molly on her ingenuity in using the sticks and the charms spell instead of sticking to spells they'd learned in his class. It was the whole point of the exercise, though not too many students were quite getting that. Molly felt good about the praise, and headed to history of magic in high spirits.

It didn't escape Molly's notice that Sarah sat away from Debbie and Julie in history of magic. In defence, Molly hadn't thought twice about Sarah partnering with Flora, because of the three of them, one would inevitably have to find a different partner. But it was not typical for the three not to sit together. Molly recalled Sarah's odd behaviour last night and this morning and wondered vaguely if everything was alright. But then she stopped herself. It was none of her business what was going on with Sarah. Molly needed to focus on her own life and stop worrying about the lives of people who wanted nothing to do with her.

Molly took diligent notes as Professor Binns went on about the process of the fictionalization of magic in the Muggle world. It was actually a fascinating topic that Molly enjoyed learning about greatly. And history of magic was one of the few classes where just reading the textbook didn't give her all the information. Professor Binns' age made him particularly knowledgeable on historical matters – after all, he'd lived (or been dead but aware) through much of what he taught. He could include details that none of the textbooks did, which Molly found incredibly interesting. Of course, you had to really pay attention to catch those details.

After history, it was time for lunch. Not wanting to waste her time sitting in the Great Hall, Molly simply swung by to grab a couple of sandwiches and then ate them as she walked up to the library on the second floor. They were gone before she entered – she knew how Madam Maxwell felt about food in the library – and then Molly settled into one of her favorite seats over by the window and got properly started on her arithmany assignment. It wasn't due for a week, but Molly liked to get these things done as quickly as possible.

At some point, she must have come in, but Molly didn't notice her presence until her assignment was finished and she was checking the time to see if she had enough of it to do a bit of reading before her next class or whether she ought to get going. But when Molly looked up, she was surprised to find Sarah sitting alone, a few seats away, hard at work on what looked like a transfiguration assignment, given the size and outer color of the textbook she had open in front of her.

Molly found herself puzzling over Sarah yet again. She couldn't help herself. Molly liked to know things. When there was something confusing her, Molly needed to have answers. She told herself it wasn't that she cared what was going on in Sarah's life, but that she just wanted to understand why her actions had changed. But then Molly reminded herself for the fourth or fifth time that day that Sarah wasn't her friend anymore, and she couldn't just go up to her and start asking questions. And she shouldn't care either. So Molly packed up her things and brushed past her former friend, deciding she could get to charms a little early.

Charms was a particularly uninteresting class that day. They were doing a combined unit with herbology – Professor Flitwick had thought it would be a good idea if the two courses taught the herbology-related charms at the same time for consistency. Only it meant that Molly was already extremely well-versed in the topic, as she'd covered it already with Professor Longbottom. Molly spent most of the lesson reading an article about a new runic document that had been discovered somewhere in the middle east, and wondering if she'd be able to translate any of it, while pretending to pay attention. Professor Flitwick never called on her – in fact, none of her teachers ever called on her anymore after her erratic behavior in January unless she was the only one with her hand raised – and so Molly was left to her own devices.

The last period of the day was herbology, which Molly thought was stupid. A whole afternoon re-learning the same information twice over was a complete waste of time. Evidently, Professor Longbottom thought so too, and decided to give them a free period instead. He didn't even insist that they work on herbology-related assignments, so long as they were working and only socializing minimally.

Reaching into her bag for the magazine with the article about the new runic document, Molly flipped to the picture of it in the hopes that she could recognize some of the words. Bits of it were familiar, and Molly grabbed a spare bit of parchment and started working out what the document could possibly say. It hadn't been properly translated yet, and Molly thought it would be interesting to compare her translation to the official one when it was finally released.

Suddenly, the sound of a throat being cleared pulled Molly from her thoughts and she looked up to find Sarah hovering by the end of her desk, looking extremely uncomfortable.

"Can I help you with something?" Molly asked, rather coldly. They were the first words Molly had said to her former friend in months, and Molly was surprised to discover that she was still quite angry about the whole business that had gone down in December.

Sarah played with the ends of her hair as she tried to decide what to say. "I wondered if I could sit with you?" she asked.

Molly leaned back and crossed her arms. Sarah had been acting weird all day and now here she was wanting to sit with Molly? No. Molly wasn't just going to say yes. She needed to know what was going on.

"Why?" Molly demanded, a little more harshly than she'd intended. "Why not sit with your real friends over there?" she gestured to Debbie and Julie's table on the other side of the room.

Sarah glanced miserably at the Ravenclaws and then back at Molly.

"They… they don't want to sit with me anymore," Sarah replied.

Molly pursed her lips and waited for Sarah to continue.

"I guess the whole Gryffindor/Ravenclaw Quidditch rivalry finally got to be too much. They decided they can't be friends with someone on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. I think it was their teammates who pushed them into the decision, but basically it means they don't want me around any more," Sarah explained with a shrug.

Molly nodded, slowly processing all that she'd just heard. "So basically," she said, summarizing Sarah's speech. "They ditched you, the same way you all ditched me, and now you're coming to me to be your friend because they don't want you anymore?"

Sarah shrugged. "When you put it like that – "

"No," Molly said, this time the harshness completely intentional.

"What?" Sarah asked, confused and seemingly surprised.

"No," Molly repeated herself. "You can't sit with me. You can't be my friend. I won't be some crap second-choice friend. You can't ignore me for months and then come to me when you're out of options and expect me to forget everything that's happened. We're not friends. We can never be friends again. So, go away. You can either learn to be alone, or find some new friends, but my friendship is off the table."

It felt really good to reject Sarah the way she'd been rejected all those months ago. It felt really good, watching Sarah sadly retreat to a table by herself, to know that now Sarah knew how it had felt when she'd done the same to Molly. But after a few minutes, Molly started to feel bad. Maybe she shouldn't have been so mean. Maybe she should have had compassion and let Sarah sit and study with her.

Molly shook her head, clearing it of any distracting thoughts. She was getting too caught up in other people's lives. Sarah wasn't a healthy friend to have. She was a Quidditch player, which meant her priorities weren't on school anymore. Regardless of Sarah's situation, Molly couldn't befriend her again. It had nothing to do with revenge or payback, though Molly had to admit in the moment, there had been a lot of that going on. Molly was just being smart. She needed to be around people committed to education, like her professors. Sports were the opposite of what she needed to be thinking about. Sarah would be better off being friends with her fellow teammates. They all had the same priorities after all, and had plenty in common. Yes. Sarah would be just fine.

When herbology class was over, Molly made a point of not looking at Sarah as she packed up her things and departed. Molly couldn't be thinking about Sarah, she needed to be thinking about more important things. Molly waited until the rest of the class was gone, and then approached the front of the room, ready to help Professor Longbottom with the re-potting.

"Where do you want to start?" Molly asked, eager and ready to go. She had tons of stuff she wanted to discuss with her herbology professor too, and had been looking forward to this all day.

"Let's head to greenhouse six," Professor Longbottom declared, much to Molly's delight. She liked going into the higher-level greenhouses. It made her feel important. "And don't forget your gloves, the fertilizer we're going to be using is dangerous."

"Right," Molly nodded, showing her professor her already gloved hands. "I'm ready."


	28. April Year 3

_Year 3: Left Behind_

Chapter 28: April 2017

It was more difficult that Molly had expected, forgetting about Sarah. It had been easy to reject them when her friends hadn't wanted anything to do with her, but knowing that Sarah wanted to resume their friendship made it harder for Molly to ignore her. It also didn't help that Sarah kept looking at her with this forlorn expression on her face that made Molly feel guilty every time she saw it.

But Molly didn't have time to be worrying about Sarah. School. Studying. Straight O's. This was what she needed to focus on. There were only three sacred S's, not four. Sarah was not getting added to the list, not if Molly had anything to say about it.

It wasn't personal. Molly wasn't trying to punish Sarah at all. Maybe it had started out like that, but honestly Molly just couldn't afford to waste her time anymore. She knew Sarah's grades had suffered since joining Quidditch. It had been inevitable. Molly couldn't be spending her time helping to boost someone else's grades. She had other things to think about. She had articles to read, and N.E.W.T. level charm-work to study, and professors to have intelligent conversations with.

At breakfast, when Sarah would stare at the empty spot across from Molly, Molly would pointedly avoid making eye contact. In class, when Sarah would hesitate upon entering the classroom, deciding where to sit, Molly would make sure to put her bag on the empty chair next to her to make it clear that it wasn't available. In the library, Molly chose single-person study carols instead of multi-person tables where anyone could come up and join her. In the dorm, Molly spent the majority of her time hidden behind her curtains, where nobody could bother her. And Molly spent almost no time in the common room any more.

Most of the time, it wasn't too difficult to avoid Sarah. What was difficult was not thinking about her, especially when Molly's actions were now specifically tailored to keeping the girl at arm's length. Molly couldn't help it. She'd very recently gone through what Sarah was going through, and it had been hard. If it hadn't been for her father's advice and her conversations with her teachers, Molly probably would have gone crazy. And Sarah didn't appear to have either of those things.

But Molly couldn't think about Sarah. She didn't have room for the girl in her mind or in her life. The part of her life where she'd been friends with her roommate were over. Molly had moved on to bigger and better things, and Sarah would eventually do the same. She just needed time to get there.

MmMmMmMmMmM

It was third period and the third years had all just filed in to their ancient runes class. As usual, Molly immediately put her bag on the chair next to her to encourage Sarah to take a seat elsewhere. Unfortunately, Sarah was rather late to class, and by the time she'd arrived, all the other seats were taken. Professor Thicket looked pointedly at Molly, and with a sigh, Molly removed her bag from the chair, dropping it to the floor, and allowing Sarah to take her seat.

Molly determined not to look over at the girl, no matter how tempting it was. Molly got her quills and ink and parchment for her notes in order, aware of the fact that Sarah was doing the same on her left, but not looking to confirm.

Professor Thicket then announced that they would be starting the class with a pop quiz.

Molly cleared her desk of her notes immediately, leaving only one sheet of blank parchment on her desk to take the quiz on.

Professor Thicket enchanted a piece of chalk to start writing out the questions on the chalkboard and Molly closed her eyes for a moment as she mentally prepared herself for a quiz.

Quiz was relatively straightforward. There were a few vocabulary words to translate, a few verbs to conjugate, and a few nouns to decline. The final question was a very straightforward sentence to translate, while identifying the conjugations and declensions of the verbs and nouns. Molly could have done it in her sleep.

But as Molly moved on from the translations to the conjugations, she found herself wondering how Sarah was doing. Was Sarah getting the right answers? Or was she struggling because she hadn't had time to study the material. Some of it was even stuff they'd only just covered in their last class, which for Molly was irrelevant, because she'd already learned everything until the end of the year and beyond, but would make a difference for Sarah.

She tried not to, but eventually curiosity got the better of her, and Molly surreptitiously glanced over at Sarah's paper. The girl was still working on the translations, and had already mistranslated at least one of the runes.

Molly forced her gaze back to her own paper. Conjugations. She had to focus on her conjugations. The verb in front of her was clearly third person singular, the question was what was the tense?

Molly's eyes shifted over to Sarah's paper again and she almost cried out when she saw that Sarah was translating the rune for hungry as food. Sure they both had the same root, but the rest of the rune was completely different.

Focus. Molly needed to focus. She looked back to her own quiz, scribbled down an answer, and moved on to the declensions. Declensions were even easier than conjugations. This should be a breeze.

Unable to control herself, Molly found herself looking at Sarah's paper again and noticed that she'd identified a verb as first person plural when it was really first person singular. Molly grew frustrated, and tried to kick Sarah in the foot without drawing attention to it. When Sarah didn't react, Molly reminded herself yet again that she was supposed to be focusing on her own work, and she pushed Sarah's quiz from her mind.

She finished off the declensions and started working on the final sentence translation. Unfortunately, Molly kept thinking about Sarah's quiz, and before she had a chance to finish translating, let alone identify any of the conjugations or declensions, Professor Thicket was waving his wand, causing everyone's quizzes to zoom to the front of the room, regardless of whether they were still writing or not.

"Time's up," he declared.

Molly cursed silently to herself. Never before had she failed to complete something as simple and straightforward as an in-class quiz. It was all Sarah's fault, for sitting next to her and distracting her from her work. If she'd been sitting next to anyone else, she would have been able to focus on her own work without issue.

As the lesson began, Molly made an explicit point of not looking over at Sarah's notes even once. She was nipping this in the bud. Sarah meant nothing to her. She was someone who used to be in Molly's life, but wasn't anymore. Molly had to stop thinking about her and worrying about her and feeling guilty. Molly had no reason to feel guilty. If anyone should be feeling guilty, it should be Sarah.

MmMmMmMmMmM

The following class, Professor Thicket returned their pop quizzes. Molly was afraid to look at hers, and was appalled to find that she'd received an E. There was a note at the bottom from her teacher indicating that she should come and talk to him about it if she had any questions, but Molly didn't need to. She knew she'd been unfocused during the quiz. She knew she'd deserved the grade she'd gotten.

She was determined that this would never happen again. Whether it was a quiz, or a test, or a homework assignment, Molly couldn't let her grades slip from below a perfect O, which meant no more sitting next to Sarah. This also meant that in order to avoid having the only empty seat next to her, Molly would have to start sitting next to other students. Students like Makayla Higgins and Flora Bailey. Molly was getting a headache just thinking about it.

In her next class, Molly was even more shocked to find that she'd gotten an E on one of her homework assignments. It was a transfiguration assignment, which was strange, because Molly was usually really good at transfiguration. Then again, it was very out of character for Molly to be getting E's at all. Molly tried to remember what had been going on when she'd written this assignment and realized that once again, it was Sarah's fault. Molly had been working on it in the library and Sarah had been studying at the next carol over and Molly had been preoccupied thinking about how lonely the girl must be feeling.

Molly knew now more than ever that she needed to nip this in the bud. One E was one thing, but two E's in a row? Her grades were slipping, and she had to catch them before she started outright failing.

Molly decided her only course of action was to speak with her Head of House. So after classes that afternoon, she went straight to Professor Longbottom's office and knocked on the door.

"Sorry Molly, there's nothing to do in the greenhouses today, I'm afraid," Professor Longbottom said immediately upon seeing who his visitor was. "I'm just grading papers, which unfortunately you can't help with."

"Actually, I came because I need your help," Molly revealed.

Professor Longbottom immediately pushed the papers he was grading aside and gestured for Molly to sit down in the chair across from him. "What seems to be troubling you?" he asked.

"Well," Molly said slowly. "I got an E on my pop quiz in ancient runes, and then again on my transfiguration assignment."

"That's very unlike you," Professor Longbottom said in surprise. "In fact I can't recall a time you've ever gotten below an O."

"Exactly," Molly said in distress. "So far it was only a pop quiz and a small assignment, so it shouldn't bring my average down, but I can't let this keep happening."

"Are you having difficulty with the subject matter?" Professor Longbottom inquired. "I'm sure Professor Thicket and Professor Tonks would be more than happy to sit down with you and go over the material if that's what you need."

Molly almost laughed out loud. For Professor Longbottom to even suggest that Molly was struggling academically – well it was downright hilarious to say the least. Molly was already translating way beyond third year level, she was performing her magic non-verbally, and her essays sounded like they were being written by a seventh year. There was nothing wrong with Molly's ability to grasp the material. Her problem had everything to do with her inability to focus on her schoolwork when the time called for it.

"No, that's not my problem," Molly shook her head. "My problem is that I keep getting distracted. During that pop quiz, I knew all the answers, and if I'd been paying attention purely to what I was doing, then I could easily have gotten an O. But my attention was elsewhere, and I scribbled a few things down wrong, and then didn't even finish the quiz."

"Alright," Professor Longbottom said. "What is it that's distracting you?"

Molly hesitated.

"I can't help you if you're not honest with me," Professor Longbottom insisted.

Molly took a deep breath. "It's Sarah," she revealed.

"Sarah Radford?" Professor Longbottom asked for clarification.

Molly nodded. "She wants to be friends again, but I said no. I don't want to be her last resort."

"What do you mean by that?" Professor Longbottom asked.

Molly opened her mouth to answer and suddenly found herself telling the whole story. She went as far back as last June, when the whole idea for joining the Quidditch team had been originally proposed. She told him about the tryouts, how strained their friendship had become afterwards, how her friends had ditched her, how she'd realized that they weren't worth her time anyway, how she'd rebuilt her life, and how now Sarah had come to her, wanting them to be friends just like they had been before.

When she finished, Molly felt infinitely better. It was nice to share all that she'd been through, good to talk about everything and finally lay it all out on the table.

"And now my grades are slipping because I feel guilty for turning Sarah away," Molly added, bringing the story full circle.

Professor Longbottom took a while to respond, allowing himself time to process what Molly had said.

"I see no reason for you to feel guilty," Professor Longbottom said finally. "You haven't done anything wrong. But I don't see why you couldn't accept Sarah's offer to be friends again. Give her a second chance?"

Molly shook her head. Her professor hadn't understood. "It's not about second chances," she said. "This isn't about revenge, or me being unforgiving. This is about how Sarah isn't as focused as me. If I was friends with her again, she'd pull me down with her."

"But what if instead, you pulled her up?" Professor Longbottom suggested.

"No," Molly said. "That's not how it works. She has different priorities than I do. We can't be friends again."

"Well that is your choice," Professor Longbottom replied. "But having different interests doesn't mean you can't be friends. Lots of friends have different interests."

"Not me," Molly insisted stubbornly. "I have my grades to think about."

"Your grades are way above average," Professor Longbottom pointed out.

"But they're slipping!" Molly exclaimed. "I need to forget about Sarah and just focus on school."

"Maybe I'm not the right person to help you with this, Molly," Professor Longbottom said apologetically. "I think we need to leave room in our lives for more than one thing."

Molly agreed. "You're right. You're not the right person to help me with this."

With that said, Molly stood and said her goodbyes. If Professor Longbottom couldn't help, there was still an adult she knew would be on her side.

MmMmMmMmMmM

 _Father,_

 _Though I was at first hesitant to tell you this, I'm afraid I have some bad news. I've received two E's. The first was for a pop quiz in ancient runes, and the second was for a small transfiguration assignment. Don't worry; neither is heavily weighted in the calculation of my final grade. I don't expect them to affect anything in that regard._

 _My fear is that this may keep happening. My attention is split and I don't know how to stop being distracted. Sarah has asked me to be friends with her again, and I don't want to, but I feel bad saying no. And whenever she's around, all I can think about is how she needs me to help her to get better grades. Because I know she's pulling an E average at most._

 _What should I do?_

 _Molly_

MmMmMmMmMmM

 _Molly,_

 _First of all, I'm very disappointed to hear about this dip in grades, though I'm glad to hear about it from you first and not from one of your professors._

 _Second of all, you need to snap out of it. There's no easy way to say this, but grow up and forget about that girl. If she wanted her grades to be better, she could quit the Quidditch team. It's her choice to stay on it, and that has nothing to do with you. Remember, you're not rejecting her friendship because of what happened in first term, you're rejecting it because she's not the kind of person that can help make you better. Those are the people you need to surround yourself with._

 _If your grades continue to slip, we can consider more drastic action. For now, remember that her situation is her own fault, not yours._

 _Your father_

MmMmMmMmMmM

When Molly received the reply from her father, she realized that he was right. Sarah had made her own bed, and now she had to lie in it. It had nothing to do with Molly. Molly wasn't rejecting her permanently. It was just that so long as Sarah was on the Quidditch team, Molly couldn't be her friend. If Sarah were to quit or not make the team next year or not tryout next year, it would be a different story. But it was out of Molly's hands. She couldn't be friends with Sarah because Sarah wasn't ready to be a friend to Molly. She was only looking for a friend for herself.

With this newfound perspective, Molly was able to properly push Sarah from her mind and refocus her attentions on school. For the remainder of the month, she maintained an O's only average, and even managed to convince both Professor Tonks and Professor Thicket to let her do make-up assignments so that her E's would be replaced with O's.

Though Sarah continued to send Molly sad looks, Molly no longer had any reaction to them. Sarah could change her situation if she wanted to. She'd made her choice: quidditch over friendship, quidditch over grades. It wasn't a choice Molly ever would have made for herself, but everyone was entitled to make their own decisions. And Sarah had made hers.


	29. May Year 3

_Year 3: Left Behind_

Chapter 29: May 2017

With the arrival of May, the students of Hogwarts moved yet again into frantic studying mode. Exams were approaching, and most students had only just realized how much they had to catch up on to be ready in time. Molly of course did not have the same worries. She could have taken her exams in January and been fine. But since Molly had spent the better part of the term learning things much more advanced than her third year material, she felt it would be good at least to review what was going to be included on her exams. She didn't want to make any silly mistakes.

As Molly reviewed the material, she found herself thinking about what kinds of questions might be on the exams. She'd sat through two exam periods at Hogwarts now, and felt that she understood how they were compiled. She began writing a list, thinking that she might try composing answers to the questions she came up with as an extra form of revising.

As she looked at her list, she realized that some of these questions were quite brilliant. They should definitely be included in the exam, Molly decided. And as a Good Samaritan, Molly should probably give her professors her list of questions. Not only would it save them time coming up with questions themselves, but it would mean exams with some really good questions on them. Her professors would be so grateful, Molly thought.

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Over the next week or so, Molly worked hard to compile a comprehensive list of questions. If she was going to do this, she was going to be thorough. She had to make sure to cover all the topics they'd learned over the course of the year without writing too many questions on any one topic.

That Saturday, Molly awoke early, ready with her lists of questions to start making the rounds on all her professors to share her ideas with them. So after a hearty breakfast, Molly headed up to the second floor to start with charms and Professor Flitwick.

"Good morning," Molly said brightly.

"Oh, Molly," Professor Flitwick acknowledged her. "I'm afraid I don't have time to chat today. I've got exams to write and review sessions to prepare."

"Actually, that's why I'm here," Molly said with a bright smile, entering the office and taking a seat across from her teacher.

"Was there a topic you wanted to review together?" Professor Flitwick asked confused.

Molly chuckled and shook her head. What a ridiculous thought. If Molly hadn't understood something they'd covered in class, obviously she would have gotten help with it long before now. She would never wait until exams were less than a month away to start understanding.

"No, I came to help with the writing of the exams," Molly revealed. "As I've been studying, I've been coming up with all these really great questions and I figured I'd share them with you. You could use them in the exam, and then you wouldn't have as much work to do in preparing them."

"That's very kind of you, Molly," Professor Flitwick said carefully. "But I'm not sure it's entirely appropriate."

"What do you mean?" Molly frowned.

"Well, given the fact that you're one of the students that's going to be writing the exam, it wouldn't be fair for you already to know what questions are going to be on it. It would give you an unfair advantage. Not to mention, you could leak the information to other students, and then they would have an unfair advantage as well."

Molly frowned. "I would never tell anyone anything about the exam," she insisted. "I would never leak the questions, even if I hadn't written them."

"Nevertheless, it still gives you an unfair advantage," Professor Flitwick pointed out.

Molly sighed. "But it wouldn't make any difference. I'm going to get an O regardless of whether you use my questions or your own."

"I still think I ought to write my own," Professor Flitwick insisted.

"Why don't you at least hear me out?" Molly insisted, determined to share her questions with her professor. She'd worked hard on them and couldn't just throw them away.

"Alright," Professor Flitwick said with a sigh. "Let's hear them."

Molly took a deep breath and felt her smile return, even as she read the first question.

"What is the difference between _lumos_ , _lumos duo_ , _lumos maxima_ , and _lumos solem_? What type of situation would each be used in and how might a witch/wizard decide which spell is most appropriate to his/her situation?" Molly stated eagerly.

Professor Flitwick nodded. It wasn't quite the enthusiastic reaction Molly had been looking for, but at least it wasn't total rejection.

"Here's another," Molly said excitedly. "What is the difference between an orientation spell and a directional spell? How do the wand motions and incantations differ, and why is that the case?"

Professor Flitwick held up a hand then.

"Alright Molly, I think that's enough," she declared.

"What?" Molly asked in surprise, having already started mentally skimming the next question – which was a particularly good one, she had to admit. "Why? Don't you want to hear the rest?"

Professor Flitwick shook her head. "You've already come up with two of the questions I'd intended to use on the third year exam. Of course, they were worded a little differently than mine, but they were the same in content. Now I have to come up with different questions for both of those topics, which means more work for me."

"Why do you have to come up with new questions?" Molly frowned. "They're great questions."

"Because I can't have a student already knowing what questions are going to be on the exam," Professor Flitwick replied. "You're welcome to speculate, but this conversation we're having now isn't okay. I'm going to have to ask you to move along."

Affronted and offended that her ideas weren't welcome in her charms professor's classroom, Molly stood up and left. If Professor Flitwick didn't want her help, she would find someone who did.

In a huff, Molly stomped upstairs to Professor Derlid's office on the fifth floor. Perhaps he would appreciate her assistance with the final exam questions.

"Good morning Molly," he greeted her before she had a chance to announce her presence. He didn't even look up from what he was working on.

"Good morning Professor Derlid," she replied. "Can I come in?" She decided to go with a less aggressive approach than with Professor Flitwick.

"Have a seat," Professor Derlid waved at the chair across from him. "Was there something you wanted to talk about?"

"There was actually," Molly nodded. "Have you written the third year's final exam yet?"

"Not exactly," Professor Derlid replied hesitantly. "It's – "

"Well great," Molly interjected. "Because I had some ideas for some questions you could include."

"Did you?" Professor Derlid said in surprise. "That's not really – "

Before he could reject Molly like the charms professor had done, she launched into the first question.

"For example," she began. "What is a boggart and how can one be sure that this is what they are facing? How can it be destroyed, and why is it important to know that it is a boggart before attempting this?"

"That's great Molly, but – "

"Here's another," Molly interrupted, sensing the less than enthusiastic tone. "When using the seize and pull charm, why is it important to keep a firm grip on your wand? What are the benefits and disadvantages of using this spell in a duel?"

"I'm sorry Molly, I feel I need to stop you there," Professor Derlid insisted. "I'm afraid I can't use your questions."

"Because it would give me an unfair advantage?" Molly asked bitterly.

Professor Derlid shrugged. "Well yes, but that's not the reason. The exam is going to be a practical one. So there won't be any written questions."

"Oh," Molly muttered. She hadn't been expecting that answer, but of course it made sense and really she should have predicted as much after spending the last few months working on the practical aspects of the course. "Right, well I suppose I won't take up any more of your day then," she decided.

"You had some really great ideas though, Molly," Professor Derlid insisted. "If I was writing a written exam, they're exactly the kinds of questions I'd be using."

"Thanks," Molly replied. She forced herself to smile, mostly because she didn't want Professor Derlid to feel bad, and then she returned to the hallway.

She supposed she could try another Professor. She'd lost a good amount of the energy she'd started off the day with, but she wasn't ready to give up. So she headed down to Professor Tonks' office to try her luck with transfiguration.

"Professor?" Molly asked, almost timidly, as she stood in her professor's doorway.

"How can I help you today, Molly?" Professor Tonks asked pleasantly.

"Actually, this is about how I can help you," Molly declared. "Have you written the third year exam yet?"

Professor Tonks shook her head. "I've been working on my review sessions mostly," she admitted. "Once I had those sorted I was going to base the exam questions on how they went."

"Well," Molly said, a smile returning to her face as she sat down and pulled out her transfiguration questions. "I was doing my revising, and I came up with some questions I thought you might consider using when you finally do write the essay."

"Oh?" Professor Tonks asked, seemingly interested.

Molly nodded, excited to be getting a positive response finally. "Want to hear an example?" she asked.

"Sure," her transfiguration professor agreed readily.

Molly cleared her throat before reading off the first question. "Okay, this one is pretty basic," she admitted, suddenly feeling self-conscious. "What are the basic principles of inanimate to animate transfigurations and how do they differ from animate to inanimate transfigurations?"

"Very well-worded," Professor Tonks praised Molly. "I appreciate the comparison aspect. What else have you got?"

Practically bouncing in her chair, Molly moved on to her second question. "How does the weight of the object to be transfigured affect the transfiguration process? How does the weight of the desired result of the transfiguration affect the transfiguration process? How do these two affect each other? Does this change when dealing with animate transfigurations as opposed to inanimate ones?"

"That is quite the question," Professor Tonks said, sounding impressed. "Can I see the rest of that list?"

Molly handed it over willingly, and waited with baited breath as her teacher scanned the remainder of the questions.

"This is very well done," Professor Tonks admitted. "May I use this in my review session?"

"Of cour – wait, what?" Molly furrowed her brow. "Review session? This was for the exam."

"Well I can't very well use these questions on the final exam," Professor Tonks replied. "But I'll need questions to practice with in the review, and these are perfect."

"But why can't you use them on the exam itself?" Molly insisted.

"Why does it matter?" Professor Tonks frowned. "I have to come up with two sets of questions either way."

Molly shrugged. She wasn't entirely sure what it was about the review session that was putting her off, but she'd really wanted to see her questions in the exam.

"It wouldn't be ethical for me to have a student write their own exam," Professor Tonks said then. "I'm testing your knowledge as much as the other students' and just because you're a straight O student, it doesn't give you special privileges."

Molly nodded. She'd heard it from Professor Flitwick, she probably would have heard it from Professor Derlid, and now she was hearing it from Professor Tonks as well. She couldn't help her professors write their final exams. The exams had to be fair for everyone.

"I understand," Molly nodded, taking the questions back. "I'll just throw these away."

"I would still love to use them in review," Professor Tonks insisted, "unless you'd prefer surprise questions in the review session, as a challenge."

"No," Molly shook her head. "I feel confident I know the material. I suppose you could still use these for that."

Molly passed the parchment back to Professor Tonks and then pushed her chair back and stood up.

"I'd better be getting to lunch," she said, realizing how late it had gotten. "I'll see you in class."

"Thanks for this, Molly," Professor Tonks waved the parchment of questions in the air. "I really appreciate it."

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As Molly sat in the Great Hall for longer than she usually would, she contemplated her morning. If three of her Professors had already rejected her questions for the exam, Molly felt confident the remainder would as well. It was disappointing to Molly, realizing that all her work had been for nothing. Well, not for nothing, but for close to nothing. Only Professor Tonks had taken a copy of the questions, and even then, only for the review session.

Molly wondered if it was even worth it to seek out her other teachers. They would all probably say the same thing. They would be polite. Professor Abbott-Longbottom probably less so, as she was getting tired of Molly's constant hanging around the after-hours potions lab in the hopes that her teacher would need help with something. So Molly decided she wouldn't bother. After lunch, she'd just head to the library and continue her studying. She could re-read her arithmancy textbook. It would be a great use of the afternoon.

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"Molly?"

Molly looked up in surprise. As decided back in the Great Hall, Molly was sitting in the library, re-reading her arithmancy textbook, and suddenly Professor Thicket was there, practically breathing down her throat.

"Professor!" Molly exclaimed in surprise. "Can I help you with anything?"

"I'm hoping so," Professor Thicket nodded, whispering. Madam Maxwell wasn't far, and wouldn't tolerate loud speech, especially at this time of year. "I was talking with Professor Tonks, and she said you'd written all the questions for her third year review session. I wondered if you had done the same for ancient runes?"

"I do have a list of questions I wrote up while I was revising," Molly confirmed, reaching into her bag and producing them. "Did you want to take a look?"

"If you wouldn't mind," Professor Thicket nodded, taking the parchment and scanning it quickly.

Molly shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"Why, these are wonderful," Professor Thicket declared. "Very insightful and well thought out. Is there any chance – and I hate to ask, really I do, I'm just so behind in my work – is there any chance I might use these in our review session?"

"Sure," Molly shrugged. They might as well go to some use, after all.

"Thank you," Professor Thicket said gratefully, his face lighting up. "You've really helped me out here, Molly, I appreciate it."

As her ancient runes professor left, Molly reconsidered her previous decision to spend the day re-reading her arithmancy book. If Professor Thicket had been this grateful for the questions, maybe one of her other teachers would be too. It wasn't for Molly to make that decision for them.

Packing her things up, Molly left the library and began making her rounds to the remaining professors. Professor Longbottom was grateful, but said he'd already written his review questions. Molly got the feeling from Professor Abbott-Longbottom that she'd accepted the list of questions out of politeness, but probably wouldn't use them. Professor Binns didn't seem to notice Molly's presence, and Professor Scalar didn't read them over, just told Molly to leave them on his desk and he would read them over later.

Professor Brunwell was the only Professor apart from Professor Thicket who seemed genuinely relieved to have Molly's help with review session questions. He even made a move as if to give Molly a hug, which she backed away from, successfully conveying the message that she didn't want to be grabbed by her professor in an awkward display of emotion.

When Molly finally headed down to the Great Hall for dinner, after her busy afternoon, she was feeling pretty good. She hadn't helped everybody, but she'd helped some of her professors, and she felt good about that. All in all, it had been a good day, and Molly could honestly say that her efforts had been fruitful.

And honestly, Molly realized that she was almost glad that her Professors would be writing their own questions for the final exams. If they'd used Molly's questions, the exams would have been incredibly boring. Everything would have been extremely predictable, and Molly's answers would have been written already in her mind weeks in advance. This was, there would be an element of surprise.

Molly looked forward to writing her exams that June. And even more, Molly looked forward to how well she was going to do on them. She was ready. She was prepped. She was pumped.


End file.
